Through the Years
by cdub77
Summary: AU. Set in the near future, a look back through the years. DE, Sofie. Fluff. Two new chapters 05/05
1. Chapter 1: Setting the Scene

I haven't written a fanfic in years, and for some reason felt the urge to write this. It's my first foray into the WaT universe, and thought I would write something D/E since there isn't much out there about them.

I hope you enjoy.

* * *

**Through the Years**

**Chapter One: Setting the Scene**

"Mom! I'm home!" Sofie shouted from the front door as she dropped her heavy knapsack on the ground with a thud and shut the door quickly behind her to keep the cold air out.

A big ball of fur jumped up from his spot on the rug in front of the door and welcomed Sofie with a bark.

"Hi Tiago, how are you buddy?" Sofie said giving her dog a big hug as he happily licked her face.

Tiago, a Bernese puppy, was given to Sofie for her tenth birthday a few months earlier and already the dog was almost as big as she was. He was a loyal and loving dog, whom had a sixth sense to know exactly when to lie down on the rug in the front hall to wait for Sofie's impending return home from school.

She gave Tiago one more squeeze before letting him go and resumed what she was doing before her dog clobbered her.

She was working on taking off her boots when she heard familiar footsteps come from down the hall and before she knew it her scarf was being unwound and her winter hat plucked off the top of her head.

"Hola mamita…how was school today?"

Sofie looked up at the smiling face of her mother and quickly gave her a kiss and a hug. Tiago danced around their feet, happy to finally have some company.

"It was great. Miss Rodriguez gave us a new writing assignment for the weekend and I think it's going to be lots of fun to do!" she said as she pulled back and turned to finally acknowledge the fit of gurgles and giggles that was in front of her.

"Hi Tony, have you been good for mami today?"

Her little 6 month old baby brother Antonio was riding on Elena's hip and let out a squeal of baby babble in reply as he reached his little arms out towards Sofie.

"Your little brother has been a handful all day. Nana said he was fussy all day when I went to pick him up—I really think he just wants to spend some quality time with you mi hija," Elena said with a smile, passing Tony over to cuddle and taking hold of Tiago's collar to calm him down a bit.

Tony placed a few wet kisses on Sofie's face and proceeded to bat his hands on her face as he squirmed happily in her arms.

"I missed you little guy," she said with a smile, placing a kiss on his forehead. "We should do something fun this weekend together, maybe go skating?"

"That sounds like a good idea—you'll have to ask your father tonight when he gets home. Hopefully he won't be working this weekend so we can all go together, k?"

"I'll ask him at dinner," Sofie said as she spun Tony around in a little small circle, Tiago following along as if it was their own little dance.

"What's your school assignment about?" Elena asked as they made their way down the hall towards the warm kitchen, Tiago trailing behind them. Sofie could smell that her mom had been baking and was hoping there was a fresh sheet of cookies just waiting for her to pounce on.

"It's my autobiography. I have to write about things that have happened in my life. We've been learning about chronology and Miss Rodriguez thought it would be a good exercise to write about things we can remember since we were born and share at least one of the memories with the class in a presentation next week."

"That sounds like a really fun project to do, I'm sure you'll have lots to say, si?" Elena asked as they walked into the kitchen.

"Definitely! I want to start on it right away," she stated as she walked over to the side and placed Tony into his play pen. He started to protest being left alone but was quickly pacified as Sofie handed him his favourite stuff dog toy which he eagerly grabbed onto. Tiago plopped himself down on the doggie cushion next to the play pen, resting his head on top of his paws and kept an eye on his family closely.

"That's a smart idea, especially if we do end up going skating this weekend," Elena said to her daughter as she shuffled around in the kitchen, getting things ready for dinner later that night.

"Would it be possible if I look through the photo boxes for some pictures? Miss Rodriguez said we have to include some photos that match up with the things we write about."

"That's fine sweetie, I'll get the boxes down from the closet after dinner."

"Gracias mami."

* * *

Sophie was in her room working in front of her computer, staring at the blank screen of the word document as the cursor blinked at her as if it was willing her to begin. 

Tiago had followed and had settled himself down on Sofie's bed—enjoying her fluffy comforter much too much. He was such a smart dog that he was already facing the door; ready to jump off the bed the second his parents showed up. He wasn't supposed to be on the bed, but Sofie didn't mind and he was going to take every bit he could get!

Sofie placed her hands on the keyboard and took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts, and began to type.

_My name is Sofie and while I live a great life with my family, it hasn't always been this way. In fact, you could say that I have lived two very different lives and that there are times when I just wish and pray that nothing will ruin the life I have now._

_I don't remember much of the first few years of my life—I don't think it's even possible for little kids to remember things from so long ago—but I do remember a time when my Mom and Dad were very happy, and in turn I was very happy._

* * *

"…and the Prince and Princess lived happily ever after," Carlos read, finishing the last page of the storybook before shutting it quietly. 

He glanced down at his almost three-year-old daughter and his heart filled with pride. Her eyes were drooping and you could tell she was struggling to stay awake.

"Read again Daddy?" she asked softly, her hand reaching up to rub against the side of his cheek.

"That was the second time already sweetie, it's time for you to close your eyes and get some sleep. It's way past your bedtime," Carlos replied, grabbing her small hand and placing a kiss on the knuckles.

"I want Mama," Sofie whimpered softly, hugging her LuLu doll tighter to her.

"Mama will be back as soon as she can, remember how I told you that work sent her on a very important trip?"

"Yeah."

"She'll be home before you know it sweetie—I bet anything she cannot wait to see you again."

"If Mama comes home tonight, can you wake me up?"

Carlos nodded and leaned down to tuck his daughter.

"Good night Sofie," he said as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"'Night Daddy."

Carlos switched off the lamp next to her bed and quietly made his way out of the small bedroom.

He headed to the kitchen to finish cleaning up and was halfway in finishing the dishes when he heard the front door being softly opened and closed.

He looked up as his beautiful girlfriend appeared before him. Elena looked tired and frazzled, stress written all over her exquisite features. She dropped her bag and keys on the kitchen counter and walked over to Carlos.

"Elena?" Carlos asked, his voice ladled with concern.

She did not reply and simply threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Are you ok?" Carlos asked, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and holding her tight. He could feel her leaning heavily against him.

After a few minutes of silence, Elena pulled back.

"Sorry, I just really needed that. It's been a pretty rough few days," Elena said with a sigh, while placing a soft kiss on Carlos' lips.

"Did you complete your assignment?" he asked, tucking a strand of hair behind Elena's right ear.

"Yeah, we were able to bust the perp, but it was just awful the conditions and the …" Elena began, thinking back to the last few days.

"Shhh…don't talk about it, just leave everything outside of this apartment."

"I'm sooo unbelievably tired right now Carlos, I think I could sleep for weeks."

"Then lets go, you need your rest," Carlos said, taking Elena's hand and leading her towards their bedroom.

"Let me just check in on Sofie, I missed her the last few days," Elena said, stopping in front of a door decorated with a Disney princess cutout.

Elena quietly slipped into the room, walking towards Sofie's bed and sitting down softly at the foot of her bed. She watched her daughter for a few moments, happily observing her sleeping peacefully.

"She's gotten bigger the last few days," Elena quietly said, looking back towards Carlos who was standing by the door.

"I always feed her well," Carlos replied with a smile.

Elena shook her head as she turned to look back at Sofie. She knew Carlos' prowess in the kitchen was next to nothing, and could imagine the last few days of greasy takeout pizza, chow mien and burgers. She quickly adjusted the blanket that Sofie had kicked out and leant down and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Sweet dreams Sofia."

She stood up and walked back towards Carlos when she heard her daughter shift in her bed.

"Mami?" her quiet voice murmured, rubbing her eyes slightly and looking at her parents who were standing by the door.

"Hola mamita," Elena said with a smile, walking back towards the bed. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I was waiting for you to come home. I missed you," Sofie said, stretching her arms up towards her mother.

"I missed you too Sofie," Elena said, scooping up her daughter and placing another kiss on her. "But, I think it's time for you to go back to sleep. It's very late."

"Can you and Daddy read a story to me?"

"Sofie, you've already heard two stories tonight," Carlos said with a stern voice.

"Pretty please?" Sofie pleaded, giving her parents a sad face.

"Alright, Dad and I will read you one quick story and then you have to promise to go to sleep afterwards, comprende?" Elena reasoned with her, tucking her back into bed.

Sofie nodded eagerly as she watched her father sit on the small chair next to her bed and grabbed the storybook and passed it over to Elena.

She snuggled into her pillows some more as the calm voice of her mother began to wash over and soothed her to sleep…

* * *

_But that time didn't last long and my Mom and Dad began arguing all the time and fighting. Mom once told me that she loved Dad very much and wanted more than anything to marry him, but Dad just would not grow up and act like an adult._

_I remember nights when I would be in my room trying to block out the yelling and arguing that was happening. Dad's job would always send him on assignments when he would be weeks to even months undercover and when he did return, he and Mom would fight all the time._

_They fought about everything and anything and there were some nights when Dad came home from drinking that I would worry for Mom. She's the strongest person I know and I can still remember many times catching her crying in her room._

_I remember it was a few weeks before my fifth birthday when Mom came into my room and made an important announcement._

* * *

"Sofie, sweetie, come over here please," Elena said, as she sat down on her daughter's bed and patted the spot next to her. 

Sofie scampered over to her bed and looked up at her mom, expectantly.

"I need your help to pack up some of your things so we can bring it with us to Nana Isabel's place."

"Why?"

"Daddy and I spoke last night and we've decided it would be a good idea if we stayed over at grandma's place for a little while."

"Was that what you were fighting about last night?" Sofie asked quietly, remembering the events of the previous night.

Elena smiled sadly, her heart breaking that her daughter had to overhear what was going on.

"Yes baby, I just think its best if your Dad and I spent some time apart—so we don't fight all the time."

"Do you not love Daddy anymore?" Sofie asked, confused.

"Sofie, a part of me will always love your Dad, but sometimes things don't always work out and I not only have to do what is best for me, but also for you," Elena said, trying to explain to her daughter the situation.

"Will I get to see Daddy?"

"Of course. Your father loves you very much and we'll work something out so that you can spend time with him. Is that ok?" Elena asked, looking directly into her daughter's eyes.

"Yeah, I just don't want you fighting anymore."

"I know sweetie, I'm sorry about that," Elena said, giving her daughter a hug. "What do you say you pick a few of your favorite toys to take with you and I'll start packing some of your clothes?"

"Alright Mami," Sofie said, slowly getting off the bed and walking over to the shelf she kept her toys.

Elena watched as her daughter picked out a few things and felt a sense of relief that she took the news rather well. It was long overdue, and she needed to take care of herself and her daughter now.

* * *

_We stayed with Nana Isabel for a few weeks. I know Mom and Dad met regularly to try to work things out, but ultimately it became obvious that they were no longer on the same page. I think a part of Mom was happy that they both came to an agreement in their relationship—it was like the ten ton gorilla was off her back now._

_Dad got promoted and was working so much that I hardly saw him except for moments scattered here and there. A part of me wished I was more upset that I was spending less and less time with him, but for some reason I was ok with it. _

_Mom decided she wanted a fresh start and a clean break away from the NYPD. She took on an opportunity that was offered to her from the FBI and we moved together to Quantico for almost five months as Mom went through the rigour that was the FBI Academy._

_It was a very demanding period for Mom during her FBI training. She was one of only three women in her class and also the only one who had a child to care for after long days of classes and exercises. _

_Mom ended up graduating in the top five of her class, and I was so proud of her during the graduation ceremony._

* * *

"Mom!!!" Sofie shouted, dashing her way through the swarm of people in front of her and making her way quickly towards the staging area where she knew her mother was. 

"Sofie?" Elena said loudly, looking around to find where she heard her daughter's voice coming from.

"Mom!" Sofie shouted again, finally seeing her mother and making her turn around towards her voice. She bolted towards her and jumped into her awaiting arms. "You did it Mami!" Sofie said with a big smile, reigning kisses on her mother's face in happiness.

"I did!" Elena said with a laugh, half spinning her daughter around as she broke into a fit of giggles.

"Sofia Maria Delgado!" a stern voice said, approaching them quickly.

They both turned to see Elena's mother Isabel walking towards them followed by Elena's cousin Gloria and her family.

"What have I told you about running off like that in a crowded place?" Isabel said with a firm voice, her seriousness being placated by the smile that tugged on her lips.

"Sorry Nana, I just wanted to see mami," Sofie said in a regretful voice. "I won't do it again."

Elena settled Sofie back on the ground as she gave her mom and cousin a hug and kiss each.

"Thank you for coming to support me mami, you know I wouldn't be ale to do any of this without you," Elena said to her mom.

"I'm very proud of you Elena. You've accomplished much more than I ever imagined for you and look at you now!" Isabel said with a warm smile, hugging her daughter tightly.

"Special Agent Elena Delgado!" Gloria said with a laugh, giving Sofie a hug.

"And a big thank you to you too Gloria. I wouldn't have been able to get through the past months without your support and help with Sofie."

"Anytime Elena. You know family means everything and I was just happy to spend some time with you and Sofie! I don't think we've done that since we were teenagers and my family moved from New York to Virginia," Gloria said rapidly. "You better come and visit us often because we're going to miss you lots now."

"Where are we going now? We aren't staying with Auntie Gloria anymore?" Sofie asked, looking up at her mom.

"No, we're going to move back to New York. The Bureau has already given me a temporary assignment out of their New York field office. We'll find a new place to stay and we'll be close to Nana. What do you think?" Elena asked, crouching down to look at her daughter.

"I'd like that, I missed home."

"Great! But, before we worry about our move back, I think there's a dinner reservation at our favorite Italian place for a celebratory dinner. Let's go!"

Sofie grabbed her mom's hand eagerly as they all proceeded to walk across the large manicured lawn towards the parking lot.

* * *

_We moved back to New York the weekend after and stayed with Nana Isabel again until Mom found a perfect apartment for us. It was a ten minute walk from Nana's and wasn't too far from Mom's office either._

_That September I started first grade while Mom began working various assignments within the New York field office for the FBI. I sometimes saw Dad on the weekends and spent a little bit more time with him now I was back in the City. I always looked forward to the time we spent together as we usually did something fun like going to see a Yankee game or visiting the park. _

_In the New Year Mom was given a permanent assignment with the FBI's Missing Person Unit. She would join a team that's main objective was to find missing people. I knew Mom was hoping to be assigned a job that would allow her to spend more time with me, but I could tell she was excited about her new job and doing something she felt was important._

_Mom's schedule at work became very demanding and there were many days when she'd still be at work when Nana Isabel tucked me in to bed at night. Sometimes I was angry that she was spending so much time at work and not looking after me, but I knew what she was doing was important and that if there was anyway she could get away from work, she would do it in a heartbeat. _

_The first few months Mom worked MPU was a huge adjustment period, she had to juggle so many things. But, we soon fell in to a rhythm and with the help of Nana Isabel, we were able to do it._

_After probably a year working with the MPU, Mom came into my room after dinner and said she wanted to talk to me about something important…I was getting used to these "important talks" in my bedroom by now…_

* * *

"Sofie, I have something important to talk to you about," Elena began, perching herself at the foot of her daughter's bed. 

"Ok, I'm listening," Sofie replied, placing the book she was reading on the nightstand next to her bed.

Elena took a deep breath and tried to gather her thoughts. This was the first time she had such a talk with her daughter, as she was rather lost as to how to word what she needed to say.

"You know that you're my number one priority and that there is nothing I wouldn't do for you, right?" Elena began, still searching for the right words in her head.

"Of course, I know that already mami," Sofie replied, not sure where her mother was going with this.

"And, you also know that besides spending time and taking care of you, my life is very busy with work and my duties for the FBI, right?"

"Yes," Sofie said, giving her mother a look that she should get to the point. She could already tell her mom was nervous and trying to gather her thoughts properly.

"So, the last few years I've been basically focused on you and work…and I haven't had much time for myself or to do anything like…date," Elena finished, slightly exacerbated that she was saying these things to her seven-year-old daughter.

"Mom, is this about Uncle Danny?" Sofie offered, realizing what her mother was trying to get at.

Elena gave out a small laugh and shook her head. Leave it to Sofie to figure out what was going on.

Since her separation with Carlos she had kept a non-existent social life. Her world did really revolve around her daughter and her job, and she did not have the time or the care to date or find somebody to fill that void in her life. Sure, there were plenty of offers from various men over time, but she wasn't interested in random flings when there was so much at stake and to consider. Plus, most guys she did meet were not all that receptive to the fact that she was a single mom—and her daughter would always come first regardless.

"What about Danny?" Elena asked, eyeing her daughter suspiciously.

"He already talked to me about what was going on," she replied emphatically.

"He did? When did this take place mamita?" Elena asked, not knowing what her daughter was referring to.

"He called Nana Isabel yesterday and asked to speak to me."

"Really? Why did he want to talk to you?" Elena asked in surprise, half wondering why her mother failed to mention this to her.

"It wasn't anything special, we just talked for a little bit," Sofie said with a smile, already remembering the conversation she had with Danny.

"Care to share with your mother what it was all about?" Elena prodded, slightly humored that Danny was calling Sofie.

"He just told me that he was enjoying spending time with you and wanted to know if it was ok if he took me out to dinner next week."

"He asked you out to dinner? What did you say?" Elena said, raising her eyebrow at what her daughter was saying.

"That's what he said! I told him he would have to ask you about it…and then he said that he wanted to invite you along too…"

"He did huh?"

"Yup. I think Uncle Danny likes you mami. He wouldn't stop talking about you and he asked how I felt if you spent more time with him," Sofie said seriously, saying her words with much importance.

"And how would you feel if I spent more time with Danny, mamita? Would that be alright?" Elena asked softly, knowing her question wasn't something she had ever asked her daughter before.

"I'd like that very much," Sofie said with a giggle.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"You smile a lot with Danny and I know he makes you happy," Sofie said, to the point.

"You, mamita, are too smart for your own good," Elena said with a smile, amazed that her daughter was already giving her relationship advice.

"That's why you love me so much," Sofie replied, not missing a beat and giving her mom a huge smile.

Elena laughed again and slowly stood up. She leant down and placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead quickly.

"I'm glad you are ok with this Sofie. I wouldn't be asking you how felt about this if it wasn't important to me. Danny's a good guy and I'm happy you like him so much."

"We'll have dinner together next week?"

"I'll let you know when the plans are made, ok? Perhaps you want to pick out the restaurant?"

Sofie nodded as she leant up to give her mom a quick kiss on her cheek before grabbing her book again. Elena gave her another smile before exiting her daughter's room.

Sofie smiled to herself—she was happy whenever her Mom was happy.

* * *

_I guess that was the start of my Mom's relationship with Uncle Danny. Looking back now, I am very grateful that my Mom was so open and forthcoming with what was going on in her life. She didn't have to tell me what was going on or include me into her decision making, but she always made a point to talk to me and ask me how I felt about everything. She knew anything that was going to happen in her life would have a huge impact on mines. _

_As Mom's relationship with Danny began to grow more and more serious, I began to spend more time with him and could see why Mom was so happy with him. He was understanding and supportive of her and in turn of me and never did I ever feel as though he didn't want me around. Danny even took me to my first Hannah Montana concert and happily sung along with the songs with me every chance he got._

_I was so happy during this time, and the fact that Mom was just as happy made everything perfect for me. But, with all good things, they never seem to last long._

_The situation with my Dad became more volatile over time. The few times I spent with him each month were oftentimes awkward. I love my Dad very much, but it became obvious that he couldn't be the steady influence in my life that I needed. I'm not sure if this developed because of Mom, or Nana, or whomever—but I could sense a lot of tension from both sides._

* * *

"Hi Daddy, how are you?" Sofie said taking the phone from her mother and spinning around on the kitchen stool. 

"Sofie! My baby, it's so great to hear your voice," Carlos said over the phone, a big smile on his face.

"Guess what I did today at school?" Sofie rattled off, as Elena watched her intently from behind the counter as she washed some vegetables for their dinner that night.

Sofie continued to talk animatedly to her father over the phone as she recalled her day in great detail for him. Elena kept herself busy preparing dinner as their conversation eventually began to wind down.

"So I'll see you this Saturday sweetie?" Carlos asked.

"Jamia's birthday party is Saturday…and I promised her I would go…" Sofie explained, looking up at her Mom.

"This Saturday? Are you sure? I have tickets to the Yankees game—right behind the Yankees' dugout—and I want you to go with me."

Elena extended her hand out, gesturing for Sofie to pass the phone to her.

"Dad, Mom wants to speak to you…I'll talk to you later!" Sofie said, quickly passing the phone over to her mother.

"Carlos, I told you about this birthday party a few weeks ago. You agreed to pick her up afterwards and she could spend the night with you," Elena said, tucking the phone in the crook of her neck as she continued working on dinner.

"I don't remember agreeing to that Elena, this Saturday is my day with Sofie and I already made plans," Carlos said, his voice becoming more agitated.

"I'm sorry you don't remember our conversation about this, but Sofie has been looking forward to this party all week now. Jamia's one of her closest friends and you know she'll be disappointed if she doesn't go…"

"Of course she wants to go! When you tell her she needs to go and say it's important…"

"Carlos, I don't want to argue with you about this. I cannot reschedule this birthday party and—"

"You're not the one getting less time with their daughter!" Carlos snapped, cutting Elena off mid-sentence.

Sofie looked up from the workbook she was working on, clearly having heard her father's voice through the phone. Elena gave her a small smile before ducking towards her room to continue the conversation away from Sofie's ears.

* * *

_When Dad tried to get full custody of me, he unleashed a ball of fury from Mom as she fought him tooth and nail. If anybody would have asked me how I felt about the situation back then, I would have told them I was perfectly happy with my Mom and seeing my Dad whenever the opportunity arose. It didn't help that my Dad and Danny had a long history dating back to when they were little kids—Dad wasn't too happy when he found out that Mom and Danny were dating and I guess something inside of him just snapped._

_I remember the day Dad took me away as a huge blur. I didn't understand why Dad would do something like that if he loved me as much as he said he did. It was very scary seeing him act that way and even to this day, I have never seen my mother look so afraid and scared._

_I know my Dad regretted doing what he did, and I have learnt to forgive him for what he did. But, no matter what, I can never ever forget what happened and have so many conflicted feelings when it comes to my Dad._

_Following the incident with Dad, Mom became very on edge about everything. She was constantly checking up on me, making sure I was alright and looking over our shoulders._

_Mom and Danny slowly began to rebuild their relationship again following the kidnapping. They were both guarded somewhat because of the role their relationship had played in Dad's actions, but they soon came to realize that staying apart was exactly what Dad wanted, and they wouldn't allow that at all._

_One month passed, then another, and then a few more, and before I knew it, an entire year had gone by and Mom and Danny were still going strong and totally in love with each other. I've read and heard many stories over the years about a boy and girl falling in love, and the Prince sweeping his Princess off her feet. I know while most of the time this rarely happens, I couldn't help but imagine Mom and Danny in their own version of the classic fairytale. _

_It wasn't until—_

"Sofia! Could you please set the table for me?"

Elena's shout snapped Sofie out of her train of thought, as she glanced towards where the voice was coming from.

"Coming!" she shouted back, quickly saving the file she was working on.

She made her way down the flight of stairs and entered the kitchen a few seconds later, Tiago diligently following closely behind her.

Elena was at the stovetop, peering through the glass of the oven door to see if her lasagna was done. Satisfied that it was to her liking, she grabbed two pot holders and carefully took out the large baking dish and placed it on the counter to cool. Tony was still happily playing in his playpen, banging two plastic toys against each other that continually amused him to no end.

"That smells real good mami," Sofie said, eagerly taking in the wonderful aroma wafting throughout the kitchen. She walked over to a drawer and grabbed some utensils before taking the stack of plates on the counter and setting the kitchen table.

"I'll cut you an extra large piece then," Elena said as she walked towards the pantry to put together Tiago's dinner.

"Is Dad on his way home yet?" Sofie asked, placing the last plate down on the placemat. Her father was usually home by this time, but he could also be working on a case that required him to stay longer.

"He called awhile ago—he should be home any minute," Elena replied, returning into the kitchen with a full dish of doggie kibble in her hands. She placed it on the floor in front of the sink and Tiago charged over and happily began chomping his dinner.

Sofie helped her Mom finish setting up the table by taking the salad out of the fridge as Elena picked up Tony and placed him gently against her chest as she settled into her high-back chair.

As both Tony and Tiago happily ate their meals, Sofie could hear the recognizable sound of the front door opening and closing followed by the familial set of footsteps coming down the hall and towards the kitchen.

Her dad was finally home.

TBC

* * *

Please R&R! 


	2. Chapter 2: Interlude

**A/N: **A big 'thank you' to those who reviewed, I am glad you are enjoying the story. Not sure how I feel about this next chapter, but I hope you like it. I do have an ultimate goal/plan for this story, and I am slowly making my way there—just doing a lot more meandering than I had initially planned!

* * *

**Chapter Two: Interlude**

"How are my two favorite girls and my main man doing?" Danny said with a big smile, breezing into the kitchen.

He walked directly over to his wife and greeted her with a kiss before leaning down and placing another kiss on his son's small crown of hair. Elena murmured a few words to her husband as she continued to feed their son. Antonio simply acknowledged his father by blinking his eyes a few times, but for the most part remained focused on suckling his mother's breast.

Danny lingered a second longer watching his son feed before turning towards his daughter. He walked over to where Sofie was sitting at the table and gave her a kiss, too. Sofie wrapped one arm around her father's torso and gave him a quick half hug.

"Are you hungry Dad? Mom made your favorite tonight," Sofie said, glancing up at her father as she removed her arm from around him.

"There's no way anyone can mistaken the smell of your mother's famous lasagna—I think I could smell it two blocks down," Danny said with a smile, as he turned to the counter so he could serve the food.

He stopped abruptly when he saw Tiago sitting squarely in front of him, blocking his path. The Bernese gave his dad a look of what could only be described as annoyance, and quickly nudged his wet nose against Danny's knee as if to say "What about me?"

"Hi Tiago. Don't worry, I didn't forget about you, buddy!" Danny said with a chuckle as he gave the dog a good fluff. Tiago happily welcomed his father home and moved out of his way to let him pass.

Danny made his way over to the kitchen counter and began cutting up the lasagna into large square pieces.

"Can I have a corner piece please Dad?" Sofie asked, impatiently waiting for her plate.

"You're just like me Sofie—the corners are the best so you can have an extra crunchy side," Danny said with a smile, bringing the plates over to the table.

Elena shifted Tony in her arms, gently burping him against her shoulder as his eyes began to droop. Afterwards she tucked him snuggly in the crook of her arm and grabbed her fork to eat.

"Anything interesting happened today?" Elena asked Danny, looking at him across the table as she took a quick bite of her food.

"Nothing more than a big pile of paperwork. I think Jack got some flack about the state of our reports as of late and he gave us a little pep talk about the importance of filing exemplary reports," Danny said with a smirk, his words coming out a bit muffled as he was also chewing at the same time.

Danny was still working with the Missing Persons Unit, continuing to take tremendous pride and joy into the work he did each day. After their marriage a year and a half ago, Elena had transferred into the White Collar Crimes Unit. She missed working with Danny and the rest of the team, but she was now enjoying her work with the WCCU and more importantly, happy that she had a more stable work schedule with hours that was a bit more consistent.

Danny missed working side by side with Elena—it was one aspect of work that he had looked forward to and it took some time for him to adjust to not seeing Elena across the bullpen or the moments of interaction together that helped kept him sane during the craziness of the work they did. And, although Elena was no longer on the same team as him, they were still working in the same building and were essentially just a quick elevator ride away from each other. In fact, they oftentimes arrived to work together, had lunch with one another (they already had a five-day rotation of favorite places to eat) and besides Elena arriving home earlier each day, their lives were very similar to the ones before their marriage.

"How was school today Sofie? Did you do well on your math test?" Danny asked, looking at his daughter as she worked quickly at her plate.

"I think I did alright. There were a few problem solving questions that were tough, but hopefully I got them right."

"Did you remember to read the questions carefully like I said?" Danny asked, knowing his daughter's tendency to skim read and misunderstand the problem.

"Yeah. I read each question three times to be sure."

"Then I'm sure you did great sweetie."

"Are you going to tell your father about your new writing assignment?" Elena asked, putting down her fork and slowly moving a now sleeping Tony into his bassinet next to the table.

"Oh right. Miss Rodriguez assigned us to write our autobiography to hand in and present to the class next week," Sofie explained, taking a bite out of her garlic bread as Tiago anxiously sat next to her chair, hoping for an extra treat.

"That sounds like a fun assignment. I remember having to do something like that when I was about your age too," Danny said, breaking off a small piece of bread and sticking his hand under the table for Tiago.

"I already started on it and hopefully I'll be done soon. Mom's going to help me get some photos after dinner," Sofie said, giggling as she watched the big dog jump up and rush over to her Dad's chair.

"Let me know if you need any help."

They quickly finished their meals, making small talk throughout. While Elena was busy moving Antonio up to his nursery, Sofie remembered another important question she had for her father as she helped him with the dishes.

"Do we have any plans this weekend?" Sofie asked, taking a rinsed plate from the rack and drying it with the towel.

"I'm on call this weekend, so unless something comes up, I don't believe there's anything planned—you'll have to ask your mother to be sure."

"Mom said we didn't when we talked earlier and that's why I was thinking that maybe we can go skating? At Wollman Rink? We had lots of fun last time we went," she asked, trying to convince her father.

Danny smiled; they had a great time the last time they went to Central Park to skate. He was definitely up for taking his family there again.

"That sounds like a great idea sweetie. Why don't we go Sunday after Church? We can make it an entire day out of it and have a nice dinner afterwards. I'm sure your mother would like that."

"Perfect. Maybe we can take Tony tobogganing too? I think he'll love it."

"I'm sure he will. You'll have to finish all your homework first though, ok?" Danny reminded Sofie, finishing up the last dish.

"I will. Thanks Dad, I can't wait for Sunday!" Sofie said happily, giving her father a quick hug. "I'll go work on my writing assignment right now!"

Danny laughed at his daughter's exuberance and watched as she left the kitchen.

* * *

Sofie was back in front of her computer, ready to continue writing. She quickly reread what she had written and nodded with satisfaction at her progress so far. 

She began to type where she had left off earlier…

_One month passed, then another, and then a few more, and before I knew it, an entire year had gone by and Mom and Danny were still going strong and totally in love with each other. I've read and heard many stories over the years about a boy and girl falling in love, and the Prince sweeping his Princess off her feet. I know while most of the time this rarely happens, I couldn't help but imagine Mom and Danny in their own version of the classic fairytale. _

_It wasn't until Thanksgiving of that year that I finally realized we had become a family and that Danny had gradually become a very large and important part of my life._

* * *

"Danny, are you sure you know what you are doing?" Sofie asked, looking incredulously at him as they stood in the kitchen of his apartment. 

"I'll have you know Señorita Delgado that you are looking at an expert in all things Thanksgiving dinner. I used to help my Mom all the time when I was little and have done this every year since then," Danny retorted as he grabbed random herbs and spices out of a cupboard and started mixing it into the stuffing he was working on.

"I still don't believe you…the last time you tried making dinner for Mommy and me you burnt the roast. And, I'm positively sure that a turkey is pretty close to that…I don't want a burnt turkey tonight!" Sofie worried, watching Danny maneuver what had to be the biggest turkey she had ever seen onto the oven rack.

"Trust me," Danny said, giving Sofie a wink before turning back towards the bird.

Danny and Sofie were hard at work getting their Thanksgiving dinner together. This year Danny had the bright idea of going "all out" for the holiday, saying it was only appropriate as he was extremely thankful for a ton of things in his life. He had a wonderful job, great family and friends, and most importantly had an amazing girlfriend who he was simply crazy about. He truly felt a sense of family every minute he spent with Elena and Sofie, and he wanted to celebrate that this year.

The buildup to this Thanksgiving meal had been astonishing. To begin, Danny had never thrown a party of this size before and he had to come up with a foolproof game plan. A rental company had come in the day before to set up the long table and chairs he had wanted in the only space big enough for it in the apartment—his living room. (Yes, he refused to be more practical in going the route of a buffet, telling Elena that he wanted everyone to sit down at the same table.) With the huge table sitting in the living room, the existing furniture had to be moved out to make the needed space. Danny's apartment wasn't small, but it wasn't large either; so he spent the night sleeping in his bed surrounded by furniture that was shoved into his room.

A guest list of thirty people was compiled and everyone important in Danny's life (and by simple association, Elena's life too) was coming that evening. In sum, it was a very big deal and the past few days had been a blur as Danny scrambled to get everything ready, while juggling an active case that the team had been working on.

Thankfully, he had a lot of help from Elena and even Sofie. Elena had ample experience in putting together large family gatherings. Every time her family came together for any occasion (and there were many occasions!), it was quite the logistical nightmare (or accomplishment, as Elena would always repeat to herself). She had three older brothers whom were all married with kids, had countless numbers of aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family members that when all gathered together could incite a stampede. They were a big loving Puerto Rican family who simply enjoyed spending time with each other and loved to celebrate as a family. Simply put, Elena was invaluable help to Danny prepare for this Thanksgiving meal.

That help, unfortunately, was missing for a few hours today as Elena had left for Connecticut early that morning. The case they had been working the last few days involved a missing girl who was abducted by her father five days earlier. Elena had taken a huge personal interest in the case, for obvious reasons, and threw herself into the search. Luckily, late last night, one of the leads they were chasing down had led to a motel where the father was hiding out, and he was quickly apprehended. Elena had volunteered to take the girl back to her home in Hartford early this morning and was due back in the City within the next hour.

In the meantime, Danny had picked up Sofie from her grandmother's in the morning, taken her out for breakfast at their favorite greasy spoon and returned to his apartment to begin tackling the to-do list Elena had made the night before. Sofie had kept busy by helping decorate the apartment with handmade turkey cutouts, drawings of cornucopias with pilgrims and twisting pipe cleaners around pinecones for the table that she had collected the day before. Feeling that she had sufficiently completed festively decorating Danny's living room, Sofie had wandered into the kitchen to see if there was anything she could do.

Thus, they were now getting the turkey ready for the oven as it needed at least three and a half hours inside.

"I'll let you in on a little secret about the turkey Sofie," Danny said, as he carefully moved the turkey into the oven.

"What is it?" Sofie asked intrigued, walking closer the table he was working on.

Danny held out a sheet of paper with writing scribbled on it that Sofie clearly recognized as her mother's handwriting.

"Your mother left me step-by-step instructions as to what to do with the turkey. They are so detailed that if I mess this up, I will never hear the end of it from her," Danny said with a laugh, dangling the piece of paper in front of Sofie.

"Thank goodness! I was starting to worry there…" Sofie said with a smile, grabbing the piece of paper to take a closer look.

"Hey, you didn't think I could pull this off on my own?" Danny said, faking hurt.

"You can pull off maybe hot dogs and hamburgers, a full Thanksgiving meal? I don't think so!" Sofie said with a laugh, sticking out her tongue.

Danny gasped when he saw her tongue, and dropped the dish rag he was holding. "I'm going to get you!!" he shouted, reaching out to grab Sofie. She screamed and bolted out of the kitchen, Danny chasing her closely. As she hit the small foyer by the front door his strong arms grabbed a hold of her waist and lifted her up. Sofie continued laughing and screaming as Danny threw her playfully over his shoulder like a fireman and spun her around.

"Put me down Danny!!! Stop!!!" Sofie screamed, laughing in between her pleas.

"Not until you say you're sorry for doubting my cooking abilities!" Danny said in his mock sinister voice. "I will never let you down!" he said while throwing an evil laugh, moving a squirming Sofie in his arms so that he could now tickle her senseless.

It was at this very moment that they heard a key slide into the door, and the lock turning. A second later Elena walked into the apartment with a bemused look on her face, looking directly at her boyfriend and daughter frozen in their spot.

"You know I could hear you guys screaming the moment I got off the elevator," she said, shaking her head as she placed her keys back into her purse. "I can only imagine what Mrs. Robinson across the hall must be thinking is going on in here!"

Sofie couldn't help herself and burst out into another fit of giggles, Danny quickly following suit.

"I wouldn't worry about Mrs. Robinson, she knows Sofie is no match for Danny-man," Danny said with a laugh, gently placing Sofie back on the ground.

Elena shook her head as she took off her jacket and hung it up. "I'm not even going to ask you what all that commotion was about."

"We wouldn't have told you anyways," Danny said, sneaking a glance over to Sofie, "right Sofie?"

"Right. You just wouldn't understand Mom," Sofie agreed. Danny held out his hand and she quickly slapped it in agreement.

"Ok…I am going to see what's happening in the kitchen…" Elena said, eyeing both of them as they continued to give each other looks.

As Elena headed over to the kitchen, Danny turned to Sofie and leant down towards her.

"We'll have to continue this later…" he whispered in her ear before placing a quick kiss on her forehead and turned to follow Elena.

* * *

_It was an amazing Thanksgiving that year. Music played in the background and everyone was gathered around the table enjoying a wonderful meal with conversation flowing and laughter abound. _

_I remember halfway through dinner excusing myself from the table to help my Mom in the kitchen. I was helping her make a new serving of sweet potatoes when Danny came in to see what was taking us so long. He had the biggest smile on his face and was completely buzzing from the euphoria of being around al the people he loved. As I worked on the sweet potatoes with the presser, Danny walked over to Mom and grabbed her hand and began dancing with her around the kitchen. Danny twirled Mom and started swaying back and forth, lost in their own special moment. When Danny saw that I was watching them intently, he took my hand and spun me in a circle too, gently swaying with me as Mom watched with a smile._

_It was that very moment that I realized we had become a family. I knew right then and there that Danny loved my mother and me a whole lot and that he would always be there for us._

_Thanksgiving passed and the holiday season was quickly approaching. I love Christmas, it's my favorite time of the year and this year—_

"Sofie?" Elena said, quietly knocking on her daughter's door.

Sofie turned away from the computer screen and smiled at her mother. She had changed into her pajamas and fluffy robe already and leaning against the frame of Sofie's door.

"Hard at work?"

"I guess. I have so much to say, I'm just trying to get everything down," Sofie answered, quickly saving her file before she forgot. "Is Antonio asleep?" she asked, knowing that the last few nights it was rather difficult settling him down for the night.

"He is," Elena said, folding her arms in front of her. "Your brother was acting up a bit and being fussy with me, but your father came in and worked his magic and Tony was out like a light by the time I went back to check after my shower."

"That's good, I hope he'll sleep through the night," Sofie said, flashing back to the past few nights of Tony crying for hours through the night.

"I hope so too mamita," Elena said with a smile. "I'm here to ask you if you want to look for those photos now. Dad's busy working on some of his reports and I thought it would be a good time now, si?"

Sofie nodded in reply and followed Elena into her parents' bedroom. She jumped on the large four poster bed and watched as her mother walked over to the closet and grabbed a couple of boxes sitting on the top shelf. She walked over to the bed and placed them in front of Sofie.

"Where do you want to start? When you were a baby, or later?" Elena asked, looking at the labels on the boxes.

"Later. I don't remember too much from when I was a baby."

Elena nodded and passed her several of the boxes to look through. "You get these ones, and I'll look through your baby photos, I haven't looked at these in a long time."

Sofie took the cover off the first box and started to sift through all the photos. She remembered many of them but some she had never seen before.

"You were such a cute baby Sofie," Elena said, looking lovingly at a series of photos of her as a baby. "I thought it was crazy that your Tio Ernesto was taking so many head shots like this," Elena said, turning around a couple of photos of one month old Sofie.

Her brother Ernesto was an avid photographer and when his baby sister gave birth to Sofie, he had made it his own personal mission to take as many photos as possible. There had to be hundreds of photos of baby Sofie in these boxes—most of the shots were exactly the same, perhaps the only difference being that Sofie's head was tilted one degree to the left, or her smile was just a bit bigger. Elena had thought her brother had gone out of his mind with the number of photos, but she was now very thankful he did.

"You and Antonio looked exactly the same as a baby—you had more hair though!" Elena said with a smile, showing Sofie another photo where she lying against her mother's shoulder with her hair styled into a tiny Mohawk.

"We do?" Sofie asked, glancing up from her box to look at the photo her Mom was holding out for her.

"Yes you do. See, look at your chin and nose—it's the exact same. And you both have the same dark brown eyes," Elena said in a voice that all proud mothers could relate to.

Sofie placed the box on her lap to the side and scooted closer to her mother, taking her baby photo to examine closer.

"That's not possible Mom," she said in a quiet whisper, looking back up to her.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked, confused as to what her daughter was referring to.

"We don't have the same father. We cannot look alike."

Sofie's sentence hung in the air for a moment; Elena opened her mouth to respond, but stopped herself. She looked down at her daughter who was now looking at her baby photo again with a small frown on her face.

Elena gave herself another moment to collect her thoughts to respond to Sofie's statement. This was a delicate topic for her and although usually the merit of Danny not being her biological father rarely factored into her life, there were moments in the past when it would bother her, and Elena could tell this was one of them.

"Sofie, you know very well that just because you and Tony have different biological fathers it does not mean that the two of you don't look alike. In fact, the two of you looked identical as babies," Elena said in a calming voice, trying to placate the situation.

"But half of me is totally different. Tony and I only seem alike because we look like you, mami," Sofie softly muttered, looking up at her Mom with sad eyes.

Elena felt her heart drop at seeing her daughter react this way. She had always tried her best to make things easier for Sofie when it came to her relationship with Danny. Sofie was getting older now, and Elena could tell she had lots of questions about things.

"And it's a good thing you and your brother take after your mother. She's the most beautiful person I know and you definitely wouldn't want to look like me, especially with this ugly face."

Both Elena and Sofie looked up at the voice to see Danny standing by the door, pointing at his face. He was making a goofy face and trying to make light of the situation. He had finished his paperwork earlier and had come upstairs to see what was going on. He was about to enter his bedroom, but stopped short in the hallway when he heard what his wife and daughter were talking about.

He made eye contact with Elena and saw the slight panic in them and noticed his joke had did not help erase the frown on Sofie's face. Danny quickly became serious again and walked over to the couch and sat down. He looked at Sofie and patted the spot next to him and she slowly made her way over to sit down next to him. Danny threw his arm around her shoulders and gently eased her against him, an action he always did when they were watching television or a movie.

"Why is this upsetting you so much, sweetie? You know your mother and I love you so, so, so, so much. Antonio too," Danny said softly, looking down at Sofie as she curled up further in her father's arms.

"I know that Dad. But Mom saying that Tony and I looked alike as babies isn't true. We can't look alike, at least not like real brothers and sisters do," Sofie said, her voice breaking slightly.

Danny placed a warm kiss on her forehead to help sooth her. Elena was watching from the bed, worry written all over her face.

"What do you mean you and Tony aren't like real brothers and sisters? You both have a loving family and people who care about you deeply. Tony already looks up to you as his big sister and he's going to be relying on you a lot as he gets older."

"I know, I know…but you are Tony's father. I have a different father and while I know you love me very much, I know that you're going to love Tony even more because he's yours," Sofie said, softly sobbing as the emotions started to pour out of her.

"Sofie. I need you to listen carefully as to what I'm about to say, ok?" Danny asked, making eye contact with her and holding her tighter to calm down her sobbing.

"I love you so much Sofie. It doesn't matter to me that I'm not your biological father because to me, I am your father sweetie—in every single way. I would do anything for you Sofie, and I love you more than I could ever say. While, yes, Tony is my son, that doesn't mean I love him any more than I love you. I love you both because you are my kids and nothing can ever change that fact."

Sofie was listening to all of this, rubbing her cheek against Danny's dress shirt. Her sobbing was quieting, but she was still very emotional.

"And, I think you and I are more alike than you think. Who else in this family loves mushrooms on their pizza, or always picks rocky road ice cream? Who can I always count on to help me fix things around the house or watch a Mets game with me on television or at Shea Stadium? I don't know about you Sofie, but I can only think of one person that I know that fits who I am describing and she's a big part of my life," Danny said pointedly, trying to coax a smile out of Sofie.

"Me," Sofie sniffled, pulling back to look up at Danny.

"Yes, you Sofie. My sweet girl. I wouldn't know what I would do without you and I hope you understand that it takes more than just genes to make someone a father. It takes a lot of love, commitment, understanding and trust and I promise you that I will do everything in my power to be the best father I can be for you."

"I know," Sofie said quietly, a smile slightly tugging at the corners of mouth now. "You already are."

Danny smiled at those words.

"So I don't ever want to hear again any of this silliness about me not being your father or Tony not being your real brother. We are a family together with your Mom and that won't ever change, comprende?"

Sofie simply nodded and threw her arms around Danny's neck tightly. He lifted her into his lap and returned her hug fiercely.

"Te quiero Daddy, so much," she whispered into his neck.

"I love you too Sofie. Never ever forget that," Danny replied, squeezing her extra tight in his arms.

"I'm sorry about what I said."

"Don't be sorry Sofie. I know you are getting older and have lots of questions and feelings about things. You can talk to me or your mother at any time about this stuff, ok?"

"I will."

Danny gave Sofie a quick kiss on her cheek before letting her go. She climbed off her father's lap and walked back over towards the bed. She gave her Mom a quick kiss followed by a sheepish look before grabbing the box of photos she was looking at earlier.

"I'm going to keep working on my project, thanks for helping me get the photos Mom."

"De nada. Let us know if you need anything, mamita," Elena said as she began tidying up the photos left on the bed.

"I will."

Sofie quickly gave her father a smile before leaving her parents room to return to hers.

Elena quickly tidied up the leftover photos, placing the boxes back in the cloest. She then walked over towards the couch and sat down in the spot that her daughter had just vacated. She leaned her head against her husband's shoulder and let out a deep sigh.

"I don't think that will be the last time Sofie brings all that up," she said, turning her head slightly so she could look at Danny.

"Yeah, but I think its good she wants to talk about it. She'll come to her own understanding and place about all of this stuff, and I just want to be sure she knows I'll listen and how much I love her. She's my daughter Elena, and there's nothing that will change that fact and how I feel about her," Danny vented, hugging Elena closer to him as he played with the stray wisps of hair framing the side of her face.

"She's very lucky to have you for a father," Elena said, nuzzling a spot in the crook of Danny's neck that she knew he loved so much.

"Ummm…I think I'm the lucky one to have such a great daughter…" Danny murmured as he turned to place a trail of warm kisses on Elena's neck, "…and an amazing wife…" he continued in between kisses, "…who is drop dead gorgeous…and really knows how to take care of her ma—"

"Shut up, Danny," Elena said hoarsely before capturing his lips with hers in an intense kiss.

And, shut up he did.

* * *

Sofie was back in her room in front of her computer. She had the photo box balanced on top of a stack of papers and was trying to refocus back on her assignment. 

She wasn't sure why she reacted that way when her mother commented about her baby photos. Even she had to admit to herself that she and Antonio looked very much alike. It bothered her somewhat that she felt so insecure about her place in the family and in her father's heart. She believed those feelings came from a place deep inside of her that assumed that at any moment the happiness in her life could be taken away. She had gone through it before with Carlos and she did not want that to happen ever again—especially since she was so happy now and loved Danny so much.

Trying to shake herself out of the small daze, she focused her eyes back on her computer screen to pick up where she had left off.

_Thanksgiving passed and the holiday season was quickly approaching. I love Christmas, it's my favorite time of the year and my biggest memory from that year's holiday season was the snow storm._

_The weekend between Christmas and New Year's, Mom had decided it would be a good idea to visit her brother and his family. They had moved from the City to Buffalo during that past summer for Tio Efrain's job with Border Patrol. Tia Marcela had just given birth to their third child (all boys!) and they had been unable to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the family. Mom, therefore, thought it would be a great idea to make the six hour drive to Buffalo so that we could visit for the weekend._

_I was pretty excited about going, as I hadn't seen Tio, Tia and my cousins for a very long time. Little did I know the adventure that was about to take place that weekend._

* * *

"Mom, are you sure you can drive in these conditions?" Sofie asked as Elena slowly maneuvered her government-issued sedan down the two-lane highway. 

"I'm being really careful mamita," Elena replied, keeping a careful eye on the road in front of them. "I cannot believe it's snowing this hard so quickly!"

They had left Tio Efrain's house almost three hours ago in beautiful, sunny conditions that were typical in upstate New York. They were about an hour and a half into their drive back to the City when it started to flutter snow which quickly escalated to a full out winter storm.

"Maybe we should have listened to Danny when he told us to stay another day with Tio," Sofie said, looking out the window at the blanket of snow that seemed to stretch for miles and miles.

"Perhaps, but it's too late now. We have to keep going."

Danny had called them the night before to check-in with them. He had wanted to come with them on their trip to Buffalo, but unfortunately was held up at work the Friday afternoon they had left. He had called to let Elena know that there was a potential snow storm developing for tomorrow over the Great Lakes and could hit the route they were taking directly. He suggested that they spend another day with Efrain, but Elena reassured him that the weather would be fine and that they'd be back in time for dinner with him the next evening as planned.

Elena was now regretting that decision, as she inched the car along the road. They were somewhere near Elmira and had lost sight of the semi-trailer they had been following for the last thirty miles.

Sofie seemed satisfied with her mother's answer and turned her attention back to the Hannah Montana video game she had gotten for her Nintendo DS from Santa a few days earlier.

Elena returned her focus back on the road and drove at least another twenty miles before she slowed the car down and put it into park on the side of the road.

"Why are we stopping?" Sofie asked, looking up from her game when she realized they weren't moving anymore.

"I think it'll be safer if we park the car for a bit and let the storm pass by. I can barely see the road in front of me, it's icy and I don't think it's smart to drive in these conditions any longer."

"How long are we going to wait?"

"Hopefully not too long, storms usually pass through pretty quickly. Once things clear up a bit, we can get going again."

"OK. What are we going to do now then?" Sofie asked.

"Lets put down our chair backs and we can just rest for a bit. I'll grab the blankets from the trunk to keep us nice and warm, ok?" Elena suggested, leaning over to help push Sofie's seat back all the way down.

Elena gave her a quick kiss before pulling her jacket tightly around her and exited the car quickly to grab the things from the trunk.

She returned a few minutes later with the blankets, passing them over to Sofie as she dusted the snow off of herself. She had a large canvas bag with her as well, and passed some snacks over to Sofie as well.

"Are you comfortable?" Elena asked, tucking the blankets snuggly around Sofie as she munched on some fish crackers.

"Yeah, I'm good. Although, it looks like its getting worse outside," Sofie commented, pointing out the window.

It had gotten considerably darker for the mid-day time and the previously quiet wind was now howling outside as a ton of snow was being blown all around in every which way.

"It's a good thing we have these extra blankets and some food then, we might have to wait a little bit longer."

Elena pushed her chair to lean back as she dug around her purse for her cell phone. She wanted to give Danny and Efrain a call to let them know where they were.

She mumbled a few choice words under her breath when she realized that there was no reception. She tried calling anyways, and was met by the robotic voice of her cell phone provider.

"I guess it's just you and me Sofie," Elena said, throwing her phone back into her purse and grabbed the extra blanket to cover her as she yawned.

Elena leant her head back and closed her eyes. "I'm just going to take a quick nap mamita, wake me up once the snow stops?"

Sofie nodded and began playing her DS some more. It was after completing four more levels in her game that she glanced up and noticed that the snow had stopped falling and the sun had come back out. She quickly snapped the game console closed and shoved it back into her knapsack.

She turned to her Mom, who was still out like a light, and gently tugged on her arm. Elena woke up abruptly, trying to orientate herself as to where she was.

"What's wrong mamita?" Elena asked, sitting up.

"Look, the weather cleared up," Sofie said, pointing outside the window.

Elena looked outside and was surprised to see the bright sunshine and endless blanket of untouched snow that met her eyes. She glanced down at the time flashing on the dashboard and realized that an hour and a half had passed since they had stopped the car.

"Then lets hit the road," Elena said as she readjusted her car seat after helping Sofie do the same. As Sofie began to fold the blankets up, Elena hopped outside and did her best to clear the snow off the car.

Once back inside, Elena reached to start the car and was met with a loud clunkering noise followed by silence. Feeling the pit of her stomach drop, she retried starting the car again and was met with the same result.

"I don't think that's a good noise Mami," Sofie said, watching as her mother attempted to start the car again.

When it became obvious that the car was not going to start, Elena slammed her hand against the wheel in frustration.

"What are we going to do now?" Sofie asked, starting to worry.

Elena did not reply, trying to stay calm as she grabbed her purse and dug her phone out again. She sighed with relief when she saw the two bars on the reception indicator, and quickly hit the speed-dial button she had programmed to Danny's number.

"Elena? Is that you? Are you ok?"

The phone had barely rung once before Danny's worried voice came through.

"Danny! Thank goodness I got through, the reception on my phone has been out because of the storm," Elena said quickly, realizing that their connection was still spotty and could disconnect at any moment.

"I know…I've been trying to call you for the last few hours. Are you and Sofie ok?"

"Yes, we're fine. We pulled over to wait out the storm and now the car won't start…could you call a tow company to come get us? We're outside Elmira on Route 352…"

"I know Elena; I'm about thirty minutes away from where you are. Just sit tight and I'll be there soon."

"What? What do you mean you're thirty minutes away?" Elena asked surprised, as Sofie perked up when she heard this news.

"I called Efrain's this morning, but he said that you and Sofie had already left. He told me the weather was already getting bad in Buffalo and I started to worry. And, when I couldn't get through to you on your phone, I just had this bad feeling that something was wrong and I had to find you," Danny explained.

"That still doesn't explain how you know where I am," Elena said, smiling in spite of herself at Danny's concern.

"Right. I was planning on just driving the route you were taking, and hoping to spot your car when I suddenly remembered that you were driving one of our sedans. All the FBI vehicles have a GPS unit on it, and I got Tech to track down where you were through your signal."

"You're a pretty smart cookie, you know Taylor," Elena said with grin.

"That's why you love me Delgado," Danny said with a smile.

* * *

_Danny really did show up thirty minutes later. He always keeps his word, and I was so relieved when I saw him—I know Mom was, too. Danny had arranged for one of the FBI tow trucks to pick up the car later in the day and we drove back into the City with him._

_The New Year came and marked the beginning of what was to become a very important and life-changing year for me._

Glancing at the clock on the bottom right hand corner of her computer, Sofie realized that it was getting late and she should go to bed. She quickly saved the file she was working on and shut down the computer.

Tiago made no attempt to move from his spot on her bed, and simply gave her a grunt when she pushed him a bit over so she could pull out her pajamas that were folded under her comforter.

She made her way to the bathroom across the hall and quickly brushed up and got ready for bed. Once done, she was about to turn back to her room when she decided to say a quick 'good night' to her parents.

Turning the other direction, she headed down the long hallway to her parents' room on the other side of the floor. Their door was slightly ajar and she could clearly hear the droning noises of the television and rapped lightly on the door.

"Can I come in?" Sofie asked, waiting to hear her parents respond.

It had become an unwritten rule that she knock on her parents' door before entering their room, especially at night. She didn't really understand why her mother had pounded that rule in her head the last few years, but simply accepted the explanation that it was good manners and polite to do so. Sofie figured if her parents really didn't want her to visit them in their room, they would install a lock or something.

"Give us one second sweetie," she heard her Dad say as she stood patiently waiting, hearing some shuffling happening inside before the click of the television being switched off.

"You can come in Sofie," her Dad said as she pushed open the door. They were both in bed; Danny was sitting up leaning against the headboard and Elena was leaning her body fully against his chest.

Sofie noticed that her Dad was sans shirt and her Mom was in a gray tank top. Although not the normal clothes for this time of the year, Sofie did not think twice about them as she knew it was her parents' regular sleep attire.

What Sofie didn't recognize was that her mother's tank top was put on inside-out in her haste to get it on or that her father was actually wearing much less than Sofie realized. But none of these facts penetrated Sofie's consciousness—she was simply there to say good night to her parents.

"Going to bed already?" Elena asked, as Sofie made her way to her mother's side of the bed to take her outstretched hand.

Sofie nodded as she quickly gave her Mom a kiss and a hug. "Buenas noches mami," Sofie said, pulling back, "Buenas noches papi," Sofie repeated, as Elena leaned forward slightly so Danny could place a kiss on Sofie's forehead.

"Los sueños dulces mi amor," Elena said as Sofie left their room and headed back down the hall.

Sofie switched off her light as she entered her room and quickly got under her covers. She closed her eyes as Tiago shifted to the foot of her bed and settled himself in for the night.

A few hours later the last light still on in the house was turned off in the master bedroom, as Elena and Danny turned in for the night. Elena had draped her body against Danny's warm form and snuggled against her favorite pillow that was Danny's chest. Her left arm was thrown haphazardly over his lean torso as her breathing became stilled and steady combining with the soft beating of Danny's heart as sleep descended upon her tired and spent body.

Danny, on the other hand, was in the fuzzy mental state between consciousness and sleep. His left hand was tracing lazy patterns on his wife's bare back as he enjoyed feeling her warmth pressing down on him like a second blanket. He was a simple man who had everything his heart desired within his home.

He placed a delicate kiss on Elena's bare shoulder before finally joining his wife in dreamland.

_**TBC**_

* * *

Please R&R! I'd love to hear what you think, thanks. 


	3. Chapter 3: In Between

**A/N: **I've decided to extend some of the flashbacks beyond just Sofie's recollections for her school assignment. Had a few ideas that I wanted to tackle, but couldn't think of a way to do them via Sofie. I also have decided that the flashbacks will jump around a bit. Linear flashbacks will continue from Sofie's writing, but other ones will not. Sorry if it gets confusing, I'll do my best to place all flashbacks within the timeline I have created in the fic.

**Chapter Three: In Between**

It was a little before seven in the morning and New York City was slowly waking up on a cold Saturday morning. It was still dark outside, but there was already a soft glow radiating from the nursery in the Taylor household.

Little Antonio's nursery was appropriately decorated for a young boy. The walls were painted a light blue color and covered with various animals. Danny had painstakingly put everything in the room together (with his wife's approval, of course) and everything reflected the labor of love put into the room.

Danny was already up with his son this morning, like every morning, gently rocking him back and forth in the rocking chair that sat in front of the window that overlooked their street. He loved spending quiet time with his son, just the two of them. It wasn't often that he had one-on-one time with Tony as he was always surrounded by people who loved him and doted on him throughout the day. It wasn't surprising that Tony would quickly have everyone he met wrapped around his tiny little fingers—he was a happy baby that people just seemed to gravitate towards. Danny, therefore, really cherished the early morning time he spent with his son and would oftentimes just talk to him as they rocked together in the chair.

Conversation topics usually revolved around family and friends, but would inevitably broach upon the other main love of Danny's life: the New York Mets. Danny would regularly impart his love for all things Mets to Tony, which included dressing him up in Mets attire (Tony had more Mets onesies than anyone could imagine), discussing the latest Mets scores and results and more importantly the time honored tradition of attending games at Shea Stadium (Tony already had four games under his belt).

Today, Danny had woken up from his slumber when he heard the familiar babble coming through the baby monitor that sat on the night table next to his side of the bed. He carefully disentangled himself from his wife, trying his best not to wake her up (which wasn't a terribly difficult task). He reached to lower the volume of the monitor before grabbing the tshirt and pair of boxers that had been shoved unceremoniously on the floor the night before. He quickly dressed himself before stretching out his tired limbs and padding down the hall towards Tony's nursery.

The moment Tony saw his father leaning over his crib he smiled and let out another fit of gurgles, instantly reaching up so that he could be picked up. Danny happily obliged, resting him easily against his shoulder as he grabbed a fleece blanket nearby to wrap around his tiny body before settling himself into the rocking chair.

"You're far too happy for somebody up so early in the morning little guy," Danny said as he gently rubbed Tony's back as he happily continue to babble against his father's chest, every once in awhile trying to push himself away from Danny's chest with shaky arms.

"It's ok. I think it's been settled that the men in this family are the early risers while the women are not," Danny continued, shifting Tony so that he now was lying in the crook of his right arm.

"Your big sister is definitely not a morning person, you usually have to drag her out of bed in the morning so that she won't be late for school…and your mother, well, lets just say your mother is a deep sleeper and has been known to break quite a few records in the 'wake up, get ready, eat and rush out the door' category," Danny said with a smile.

It was one of the very first quirks he had discovered about Elena during their first few months of dating. Danny actually found it quite amusing how much Elena detested early mornings, getting up and her ability to compact what would be his hour-long morning routine into the span of ten minutes.

The first time he spent the night at Elena's was memorable, not so much for the activity that took place in bed (which, by all standards was amazing and out of the world) but for what had transpired in the early morning of the next day …

* * *

_Danny glanced at the clock in Elena's kitchen for the fifth time in the last fifteen minutes. The big hand was inching closer and closer to eight o'clock and Elena still had not appeared from her bedroom. _

_He had been up for over an hour and a half by now and had completely dressed, grabbed a quick bite for breakfast and was now ready to head out to the office. He had already calculated in his head that at best it would take at least forty-five minutes to get from Elena's apartment to the FBI Building, and that was only if they hurried and there was no traffic._

_He had popped back into Elena's bedroom four times since he had woken to check up on her. _

_The first time was at about a quarter to seven, gently asking Elena if she wanted anything to eat for breakfast after he had brushed, washed up and changed (he had come prepared with an overnight bag). Elena replied with something in between a grunt and a groan, mumbling something about it being too early and turning her body away from him, causing the bed sheet wrapped around her to shift and exposing her bare back and derriere to Danny. He gulped at the sight, telling himself to stay calm and that there wasn't enough time for them to start anything. _

_The next time he checked up on Elena, it was five minutes after seven, and she was still buried underneath the sheets, her head resting on the pillow he slept on the night before, her hair sprayed in every possible direction. He had finished eating his toast and had a mug of coffee with him, hoping that the fresh aroma would be a good enough wakeup call for Elena. He sat down on the bed, as the shift in the mattress caused Elena to pop open one eye, looking wearily up at Danny behind her disheveled hair as he took a sip of his coffee. _

"_We're going to be late Elena, you need to get up," Danny prodded, running his hand on his shoulder, slightly nudging her to get up. "I even made coffee for you."_

_Elena groaned, turning over onto her back as she flung her arms over her eyes, trying to block out the sun that was now streaming in through the curtains that Danny had pulled back._

_Danny gulped (again) at the sight before him (again). The bed sheet was doing a pretty good job in hiding whatever was left of Elena's modesty, but he could still see huge expanses of her soft flesh that only reminded him about the night before when he touched, traced and kissed every inch of Elena's body until he knew her body as intimately as she did. _

"_Aren't you usually up by now?" Danny asked, trying to keep his mind off of Elena's body. _

"_Sofie's not here…I don't need to be up this early…let me go back to sleep…" Elena mumbled, as she grabbed Danny's pillow and hugged it against her chest, snuggling up against it and effectively ignoring him._

_Sofie had spent the night with her Grandmother. Danny had met Elena's mother Isabel a few times in the past, and when he saw her again for the first time after a few years, she casually mentioned that he should let her know if she was needed to take care of Sofie overnight. Danny felt very embarrassed when he heard the offer, but was now very thankful to have had the opportunity to take advantage of an entire evening alone with his beautiful girlfriend._

_The third time he had checked on Elena, it was seven-thirty and Elena had by then released his pillow and was now sleeping on her side, her arms tucked neatly underneath her head. She looked so peaceful sleeping, a small smile forming on her lips as her breathing was calm and steady. _

"_Elena, it's seven-thirty, let's get a move on…" Danny said, running his hand through her hair. _

_Elena's eyes fluttered open slowly as she frowned slightly._

"_What's your hurry? We still have plenty of time," she asked, not understanding the constant pressing from him._

"_I'm just worried about traffic," Danny replied._

_He was worried about traffic, but in truth, he liked arriving to the office with plenty of time to spare. He didn't like to feel rushed at the beginning of his day and always arrived at the office early. The more he thought about it now he never really seemed to have noticed Elena ever arriving early. He would usually see her breezing into the bullpen and sliding into her chair just as Jack was about to begin the rundown of the day's agenda, or he'd see her already sitting at her desk as he returned from the break room to grab a cup of coffee._

_It all seemed to make sense now. And, it also could perhaps explain why some mornings Elena would arrive to work wearing some interesting outfits—not that Danny minded at all._

"_Don't worry about traffic, we'll have plenty of time to spare," Elena said, closing her eyes again._

_Danny had to stop himself from replying that arriving to work exactly at nine was not with plenty of time to spare, and resolved himself back to the kitchen to wait._

_Fifteen minutes later, a quarter to eight, he was back in Elena's room with a plan. He walked to the foot of her bed and grabbed on to the bed sheet and comforter that Elena was cocooned under. _

"_Delgado, you have three seconds or I'll be obliged to force you out of bed," Danny said, trying to keep his voice as serious as possible._

_Elena picked her head up off of the pillow to look down to where Danny was standing, the sheets grasped tightly in his hands._

"_Don't you dare Taylor…" Elena said, using her armpits and arms to tightly hold the sheets against herself._

"_One…" Danny said, his eyes sparkling as he held his ground, "…two…" Danny continued, watching as Elena held her own ground with a smirk on her face, "…three!"_

_With that he quickly pulled the sheets towards himself, the force surprising Elena and successfully taking away the sheets and comforter from her. She sat on the bed exposed and fuming._

"_Danny Taylor!"_

_Danny chuckled, already predicting this reaction from Elena. He dumped the sheets and comforter at the foot of the bed and grabbed Elena's robe from the side chair. He walked over to Elena and handed the robe to her._

"_I'm sorry Elena, I was just playing around," he whispered before pressing a soft kiss on her lips._

"_You're lucky I like you so much or I would have totally kicked your ass for that," Elena replied, putting on the robe quickly and tying the belt tightly. _

"_And, look on the bright side—you now have to get up!" Danny said with a chuckle. _

_Elena made a noise of annoyance as she flopped back against the pillows. "I still have plenty of time Danny, you would think I know my morning schedule down pat by now…"_

_When Danny didn't reply, she shook her head and sighed._

"_Give me a few minutes, I'll be out soon," Elena said, stretching out on the mattress and working out the kinks in her joints._

_Danny nodded and left her to get ready._

_It was now a minute past eight and if it wasn't for the fact that he had heard the toilet flush and water running, he would have been compelled to go and check on Elena again. _

_It was less than a minute later when Elena finally entered the kitchen. She had made a total transformation of herself in less than ten minutes. She was wearing her usual shirt-jacket-skirt combo and had her hair pulled back in a long ponytail. She brushed past Danny, reaching into a cupboard for her much used coffee tumbler and poured herself a cup of coffee and added some creamer. She grabbed the piece of toast that Danny had made for her, placed it inside a kitchen napkin and moved quickly over to the small kitchen side table where she detached her charging cell phone, grabbed her keys and her small leather carrying case for work. She turned with all of these items in her arms and looked at Danny who was rooted in his spot leaning against the kitchen counter._

"_Lets go! And you're the one who thinks we'll be late for work…" Elena said with a snicker as she saw the dumbfounded look on Danny's face._

_Danny quickly scrambled to put on his jacket, grabbed his briefcase and reached for the keys of his car. Elena waited for him by the door, tapping her foot ever so slightly._

"_We're going to be late Danny if you don't hurry up!" Elena said with a laugh. _

_Danny gave her a sheepish look._

_She locked up quickly and they were soon stepping out into the bright sunny day hand in hand, joining the throng of people making their way to work._

_And, for the record, they arrived at the office with ten minutes to spare._

* * *

"I'm just giving you fair warning as to what it's going to be like when you get older—you and I will be spending lots of time together just waiting for your mom and sister to get ready," Danny said, smiling when Tony appeared to nod his head solemnly as his father's words, as if he was sharing the hidden meaning of life with him.

To be honest, Elena's tendency to wake up at the last possible second had grown on him over the years. At the beginning it was rather annoying and Danny would oftentimes just leave for work himself earlier, not wanting to wait for Elena to get ready or rush her. She didn't seem to mind and arriving at work separately also prevented office gossip. But as time passed, he had grown accustomed to Elena's early morning routine, actually being appreciative of a few more moments of sleep after a late night, or even shared moments of intimacy with Elena before they went in for work. Danny soon became an expert of the ten-minute dash (as they famously called it) and wouldn't think twice as they arrived to work without a moment to spare, slightly disheveled and frazzled but oh so happy.

Danny continued to rock with Antonio, enjoying the quiet moment with him. What started out as something that annoyed Danny about Elena became something he grew to love. Elena was like that not just about waking up in the morning, but for any other appointment or pressing matter that demanded punctuality. She was rarely ever late for anything, and no one could possibly imagine how quickly she could move when she needed to be somewhere on time. Elena had once told Danny that over the years she had discovered that it was important to look out for herself and take the time necessary for herself and Sofie. She would seldom let anyone else dictate to her how to get things done, and she quickly grew into a very independent and headstrong woman.

But, like how Danny had adapted and molded to the various quirks about herself, Elena, too, had slowly evolved as well. She was still a very independent and take-no-crap kind of woman, but she had also learnt to open up and allow a man—specifically Danny—take care of her. Contrary to what people usually thought of her, she was not a high maintenance person and grew to appreciate all the little things Danny did for her—from bringing her coffee, helping with a load of laundry to checking over Sofie's homework.

The first few months of dating was a huge learning curve for Danny and Elena—it was the first time they had felt invested in any relationship to take that jump—and they both knew they had become better people because of it.

"And, believe me when I tell you Tony that if your mother is ever late to pick you up or to meet you or for anything, which is very rare, there is usually a pretty good reason for it."

Tony continued to listen to his father's words intently. Danny smiled and placed a kiss on his forehead as he remembered one of those occasions…

* * *

_Danny looked at his watch for what felt like the hundredth time in the last few minutes. _

_It was a Friday night and he was sitting at a table for two at the Union Square Café and was waiting for Elena to join him for dinner. It was their regular "date night" and Danny had made plans for a romantic dinner at one of their favorite restaurants._

_Elena was now almost fifteen minutes late and Danny was beginning to worry. She was rarely ever late for anything, especially without prior notice that she was running behind._

_Their lives had been pretty crazy the last few months and Danny was really looking forward to a quiet evening alone with his wife. Sofie was at a friend's sleepover and both he and Elena were not on-call this weekend._

_Danny took another glance over towards the door, hoping to see his beautiful wife walk in. It was definitely odd that she wasn't there yet._

_Their week-long honeymoon to Hawaii only two months earlier had felt short-lived, as the minute they returned home their lives began to pick up exponentially. _

_Firstly, Elena's request for a transfer to another department within the FBI was approved upon their return and a big portion of her time in the weeks ahead had been spent on filling out the proper paperwork and tying up loose ends with the Missing Persons Unit. Jack had even arranged a small 'going away' party for Elena on her last Friday with the team and many laughs, hugs and smiles were shared._

_She couldn't believe that she had lasted almost five years with the team, especially given how her first day was like. She had grown so much in the last five years professionally, but more importantly she had made lasting friendships with some great people._

_Once she had joined the White Collar Crime Unit, she found herself once again the bottom of the totem pole and threw herself into learning everything she could about her new position and the people she worked with. The first weeks with the WCCU was brutal, but now approaching almost two months she had found her rhythm and her place within the Unit. _

_With Elena gone from MPU, the rest of the team had to pick up the slack for one less Agent as they waited to find out who would take Elena's vacated spot. Everyone on the team seemed to be working more than usual and the cases that they were getting as of late were the heavy emotional ones that completely drained out the entire team._

_In other developments, Danny and Elena were also currently house-hunting. They had realized during their engagement period that neither Elena nor Danny's apartments would be a suitable long-term home for their new family. They had been looking for something perfect for quite a few months now, but nothing yet had caught their attention. In fact, Danny was hoping to hit up a few Open Houses this free weekend with Elena, as he really wanted to find their dream place so that they could start settling down as a family._

_Danny glanced at his watch again, it had only been a minute since the last time he checked. He quickly jogged his memory to see if he could find a possible explanation as to why Elena was late. They had had lunch together earlier that day before he had to go to St. Andrew's Hospital with Viviane to talk to a suspect in their current case. Elena had mentioned that she was planning on leaving the office earlier since it was a Friday and had a few errands she needed to complete. Nothing out of the ordinary jumped out at Danny._

_He jumped a bit when he felt his phone vibrate inside the lining pocket of his jacket. He quickly grabbed it out and was relieved to see who was calling._

"_Elena? Where are you? Are you ok?" Danny asked, not even bothering to say 'hello'._

_There was a slight pause before Elena answered._

"_I'm fine Danny. I'm sorry I'm not at the restaurant yet," Elena said quietly._

"_Is something wrong? Where are you?" Danny asked, worry in his voice as he could detect that something was not right with Elena._

"_I'm back at the apartment. I came back to quickly change after I finished those errands and decided that since I still had some time to just lie down on the bed for a bit…I just woke up and noticed the time…" Elena rambled on, trying to explain what had happened._

_Danny listened to her answer intently, still not totally satisfied that she was telling him everything that was going on._

"_I'm actually still feeling a big groggy and tired…I know you were really looking forward to a night out, but would it be alright if you ordered some stuff to go and we spend the night in?" Elena asked, rambling on._

_Danny knew Elena well enough to know that her mind was currently preoccupied with something and just talking for the sake of talking._

"_Yeah, we can do that Elena, not a problem. Are you sure you're alright?" Danny asked again, as he signaled for the waiter._

"_Umm…it's just that, well…we can talk about it when you get back…"_

"_Ok, I'll see you in a bit."_

"_Te quiero mi amor," Elena said as she hung up the phone._

_She got up from the bed and started to pace slightly back and forth in their room. She was a huge ball of nerves and was trying to formulate her words and a plan to tell Danny the big news._

_The errand she had this afternoon was actually a visit to her doctor to confirm something she already knew was true. Two weeks earlier she had woken up woozy and craving dulce de leche. Her mind instantly flashed back to the last time she craved dulce de leche, and that caused her stomach to drop instantly. _

_Four hours later she held a tiny stick that all but confirmed her hunch. She was pregnant. Oh gosh, she was pregnant._

_She and Danny had many conversations about adding to their family, and they had both agreed that it was something they wanted to do. Danny was such a great father to Sofie and she knew there was nothing more in the world that she wanted to do than to have a child with him. They both, however, also agreed that while having a child was something they wanted; their lives were just too busy and hectic at the moment. Once things settled down in a year or two, they would definitely try._

_And now, two months into their marriage—still practically newlyweds—they were now expecting. How could this have happened? They were very careful about protection and took all the necessary precautions. She suddenly remembered their honeymoon and how inconsistent she was with taking her pills and…oh crap, it had to be during Hawaii where they spent a whole week with little care in the world and had enjoyed their private cabana to the fullest. _

_Her doctor appointment earlier had only confirmed her suspicion. Dr. Reyes was beaming as she told Elena the news_

_Elena quickly stopped pacing and stared at herself in front of the full length mirror. She took a really good look at herself and a sense of calm came upon her. She stared at her stomach and placed her hand over her belly, already remembering how it felt when she carried Sofie. _

_She knew there wasn't anything to worry about. Danny would be ecstatic to find out about the baby and it wouldn't matter that things weren't going as planned._

_Elena walked into the adjoining bathroom to freshen up. She still had a date with her husband and wanted to look presentable. Plus, if everything went as planned, there was still a night of 'celebration' to take advantage of._

_Meanwhile, Danny was sitting in the backseat of a taxi, making his was back to their apartment with several take out bags filled with food. He wasn't sure why Elena was acting so strangely, and resolved to get to the bottom of the situation as soon as he got home._

_Thankfully, the ride didn't take too long, as traffic was rather scarce for that hour and he was soon walking up the stairs to their front door. They had decided jointly to keep Elena's apartment until they found a new place. It was a practical decision as Danny moving in would cause less upheaval as opposed to moving Elena and Sofie to his place. Plus, Elena's apartment was closer to work and her mother lived close by. It was an easy decision to make._

_He juggled the take out bags in one hand as he struggled to get his key out to unlock the door. He was about to give up and knock when the door swept open and a set of hands pulled him into the apartment. Without giving him a second to react, Elena pushed him up against the now closed door and connected their lips in a searing kiss that when Elena finally pulled back, left Danny panting. _

_Danny was utterly confused at Elena's actions—he was half expecting to find her still in bed and tired but instead found his wife wearing one of his favorite dresses of hers (a black number that always did the trick) pushing him up against the door._

_Elena gave her a smirk as she took in his befuddled expression. It finally dawned on Danny that perhaps Elena's odd behavior could be attributed to that time of the month…_

"_I have food?" Danny offered, holding up the bags in his hands._

_Elena happily took the bags from him and carried them over to the kitchen table she had already set up. Danny followed her slowly, still trying to get a proper read on his wife. _

"_Is everything ok?" Danny asked, once again as he watched Elena pull out the boxes from the bag, opening the lids to reveal their dinner._

"_Super, everything is great," she replied, as she finished organizing the food on the table before turning back towards Danny._

"_I still want to talk about what happened…before," Danny reminded her as he pulled out Elena's chair to sit down._

"_Lets just eat first, and then we'll talk, si?"_

_Danny nodded in agreement as he picked up his fork and dug into the food._

_After they finished eating and the containers were disposed of, Elena took Danny's hand and led him over to the recliner in the living room. She pushed Danny down to sit before settling herself comfortably in his lap. She rested her head against his shoulder, gently playing with the soft hairs on the back of Danny's neck while lacing the fingers of her other hand through his._

"_I wanted to apologize for messing up our date night Danny—I know you were really looking forward to it," Elena began, moving his hand back and forth in her lap._

"_It's alright Elena, I just wanted to spend the evening with you," Danny replied, placing a quick kiss on her temple. "But, I would like to know what happened this afternoon…"_

"_I know, I'm sorry I was being so evasive about it, I just needed a few moments to collect my thoughts so I could properly tell you…" Elena began, stopping her hand movement to look directly at Danny._

"_You know you can tell me anything, I want you to tell me anything," Danny said, waiting for her to continue._

"_This afternoon I had a doctor's appointment. I hadn't been feeling 100 the last week and I just needed confirmation to what I suspected to be the reason behind it all…" Elena continued, her face turning serious._

_Danny held his breath as he waited for her to carry on—his mind already reeling with the million and one possibilities that could transpire. _

"_Dr. Reyes all but confirmed that I am…that I'm pregnant Danny…" Elena said with a smile, her left hand brushing against his cheek as she watched Danny's reaction to her words wash over his face. "Congratulations Daddy," Elena finished._

_Danny couldn't believe what he heard; he blinked once…twice…_

_Elena looked at him curiously, trying to read the expression on his face. When a few moments passed and he had yet to say anything, the pit of her stomach started to flip and she began to worry._

"_I know this wasn't what we planned…that this is going to change everything for us…and that—" _

"_Say it again?" Danny said, cutting her off._

"_I'm, we're pregnant Danny," Elena repeated, waiting for his reaction._

"_You're pregnant," Danny repeated, as if he was trying to process the words._

"_Yes."_

_Another moment passed and all of a sudden a huge smile broke across Danny's face and his eyes lit up._

"_We're having a baby!" Danny exclaimed excitedly. "I can't believe this!"_

_Elena laughed at his excitement, her nervousness about the situation quickly fading._

"_So, you're ok about this, right?" she asked with a grin on her face._

"_I'm more than ok with this…wow, we're having a baby!" Danny repeated again, obviously not able to think of anything else to say._

_Instead, he held his wife closer to him and reached to kiss her. As they got lost in their kiss, Danny's mind was racing with the news. They were having a baby! He couldn't wait._

_They pulled back, needing to catch their breaths. Elena snuggled into her husband's warm embrace as he continued to hold her tightly._

"_Dr. Reyes says I'm about seven weeks along…the baby's due date is in mid-June," Elena told Danny._

"_Seven weeks?" Danny said, trying to jog his memory to that time. "Oh," he said when it dawned to him._

"_Yes, oh," Elena said with a giggle. "I do remember a span of 3 days in Hawaii where we spent all day…occupied."_

"_What a great 3 days those were!" Danny said with a laugh, flashing back to their honeymoon. "And, we have the perfect reminder of that now…" Danny said with smile as he placed his hand on his wife's stomach._

* * *

"So, you see Tony, your Mother is always full of surprises and I just know that as you get bigger, you're going to be experiencing them all in person…" Danny whispered to his son.

Tony replied with a tired yawn, reaching out his small pudgy hands upwards to bat at his father's chest.

Danny smiled and continued rocking him. The sun was now coming out and sounds of daily life could be heard from outside.

"You just wait little guy, you're going to have the best life possible—I promise you that," Danny said, referring to his childhood and his absolute resolve to never ever let that happen to his children.

They sat in quiet content for a few more minutes, before Danny heard the familiar creaks on the floorboard and a warm presence behind them.

"How's Daddy and Tony time?" Elena said with a whisper, as she leaned over the side of the chair to place a warm kiss on Danny's temple.

He smiled and greeted his wife with a side kiss.

"Perfect, as always."

When Tony spotted his mother he immediately reached towards her, letting out a fit of gurgles, as if to say 'good morning' to his mother. Danny smiled and carefully passed their son to Elena, who held him snuggly against her chest.

"And what did we talk about today?" she asked, knowing there was always something that Danny would discuss at length.

"Oh, I was just telling Antonio about early morning moments with his mother will become a rarity once he gets older—ya know, you being a deep sleeper and all," Danny said with a wink.

"Hey!" Elena said, nudging his shoulder with her side. "Don't listen to anything your Dad says about that mi hijo," Elena said with a laugh. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

They both exchanged a look that only they understood. Danny grinned, knowing full well that he was right!

"Come on, lets get this day started," Elena said as she walked towards the door.

Tony began babbling animatedly as he realized he was leaving his nursery.

"I think your son is trying to tell you he wants you to make him crepes for breakfast this morning," Elena said, waiting for Danny to get up from the chair at the door.

"Oh really?" Danny said, standing up and following his wife. "And to think all this time he couldn't eat any solid foods!"

"Well, he knows how good they are!" Elena said with a smile. "Plus, I'm having a craving for them…and I'm sure Sofie would love them too…"

"Then you shall have them!" Danny said as delicately placed a kiss on his wife's forehead before heading down to the kitchen to start breakfast.

* * *

Sofie groaned as she slowly woke up. She was buried under her comforter and pillows and it just felt too comfortable to move. She could already hear that her parents were up and in Tony's nursery that was adjacent to her room.

A moment later, she felt Tiago brush up against the side of her bed. He jumped up, leaning his front paws against the bed and barked when he saw that his favorite playmate was up.

"Good morning T-Dog," Sofie said with a muffle, cracking open her eyes to see her beloved pup hovering just inches from her face.

Tiago barked again in reply and gave Sofie a wet kiss and started to nudge her to get up. He already knew that Sofie did not have to go to school today, and was already looking forward to a day of playing with her.

"Alright, alright…I'm up!" Sofie grumbled as she pushed herself up to sit up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

Tiago jumped up excitedly, pushing his front legs into Sofie's lap for leverage as he shot up to lick Sofie's face.

"Stop it you slobbering mutt!" Sofie said laughing, trying to get Tiago off of her. "I won't give you a treat if you keep this up!"

Tiago immediately stopped his actions and sat down; staring inquisitively up at Sofie as if he was expecting her to present her a treat as a reward right away.

"That's much better…" Sofie mumbled as she wiped her face with the end of her pajama sleeve and stood up.

Sofie shuffled towards the bathroom when she bumped into her mother in the hallway as she was coming out of the master bedroom.

"Buenas dias Mami, buenas dias Tony!" Sofie greeted her mother and her brother that was riding on Elena's hip.

"Good morning sweetie," Elena said, walking over to her daughter and placing a quick kiss on the top of her head. "Hurry up and brush up…your father is making crepes for breakfast this morning and I know how much you like helping him with that…"

"I'll be down soon!"

Elena nodded and gave her a quick smile before walking down the stairs towards the kitchen.

As Sofie was brushing her teeth, a sudden inspiration came over her to include in her autobiography. With the toothbrush still in her mouth, she ran back to her room to boot up her computer. She finished washing up as the computer started up, and she was soon sitting in front of it with ready to type.

She quickly began…

_My father makes the best crepes ever. He says it was a secret family recipe passed down from his mother but I never believed him. I even asked Tio Rafi once if it was true, and he told me he never learnt how to make crepes before. _

_After having them one time, I soon became obsessed with Danny's crepes. During the time he and Mom were dating, I would always beg him to make them for us in the morning when he stayed over. I would even ask him to make them for me for dinner—I just couldn't help myself! They were that good._

_When I finally found out how to make the crepes, it became a special moment between the two of us…_

* * *

"Are you nervous Danny?" Sofie asked him, as they sat across from each other at the kitchen counter in Elena's apartment.

"Nervous? Why would I be nervous?" Danny said with a smile as he sipped his cup of coffee.

"I don't know…'cause you're going to marry my Mom tomorrow?" Sofie said with a shrug.

"And why would that make me nervous? I love your mother very much."

"I know you do. I guess that's what I thought people would feel like before weddings—at least, that movie we saw the other day had the guy all freaking out about it!"

Danny considered her question for a moment, before proceeding. It was a sunny September Saturday and Danny was keeping Sofie preoccupied that morning. Elena had already left to run one of her many last minute errands for the wedding and had asked Danny if he could entertain Sofie for the better part of the day so she could get everything done.

Danny found it quite amusing that Elena was still asking him such requests, especially given that he nearly spent every day with the two of them and was more than alright with taking care of Sofie on his own. In fact, he liked spending time alone with Sofie and really getting to know her and bond with her, especially since he was going to become her step-father soon.

"You want to know the truth?"

"Of course."

"I'm petrified about tomorrow," Danny said solemnly.

"You are? Why?" Sofie asked, confused. "You don't want to marry Mom?"

"No, it's not that. I'm more than ready to ready your mother, but I'm just scared about everything else. You know, making sure tomorrow runs smoothly for your mother. She's been looking forward to her wedding since she was a little girl, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. I can tell she's very excited about it. But you don't have to worry about that, I am sure things will run smoothly."

"I'm also scared if I'm going to mess everything up—you know, marriage is a huge commitment and responsibility and I don't take it lightly," Danny said, trying to explain the jitters he felt.

"Don't worry Danny. Everything is going to be fine, I know you're ready," Sofie said seriously.

"And how do you know that?" Danny said with a smile.

"Because I know you better than you think. I know you love Mom a whole lot, and that you love me and that's more than enough."

Danny shook his head and smiled. He couldn't believe how smart Sofie was at nine-years-old.

"You're right sweetie. I shouldn't worry…your mother has everything under control."

Danny turned to pour himself another cup of coffee as Sofie swirled around a bit on the stool she was sitting on.

"So what do you want do you want to do now? We have some time to kill before meeting everyone for lunch," Danny asked, referring to the lunch planned with everyone from Elena's side of the family.

"I know what we can do," Sofie said, her eyes lighting up as an idea dawned on her.

"What?"

"You know how you said your crepes were a big family secret?" she asked, jumping off the stool she was sitting on and walking around the counter.

"Uh huh," Danny said, already guessing where she was going with this.

"And, well, since we're officially _officially_ going to become a family tomorrow…I think it's only right you teach me how you make them!"

"You really want to know that badly?" Danny said, amused that she was still so enamored in his crepes.

"YES!"

"Alright, I'll show you how—but you can never, ever tell anyone else about the secret recipe. OK?"

"I promise."

Danny grinned and turned to grab some bowls out of the cupboard as he instructed Sofie to get a few of the ingredients out of the pantry. He began showing Sofie how to make the batter and the way to properly measure everything for his secret "family" recipe. In no time they were spooning the batter onto the griddle, making big golden brown crepes.

"That wasn't so difficult," Sofie said, as she spread the batter out thin with the stick.

"Not at all…" Danny said, as he washed some fresh strawberries to serve with the crepe.

They continued to cook in silence and it wasn't too long after when they had a nice stack of crepes ready to be folded and stuffed. They decided that they would make a tray of them to bring to lunch, knowing everyone would love them too. Sofie worked on spooning the whip cream and strawberry mixture into the crepe and passed it along to Danny to fold and set on the tray. It was when the tray was almost filled when Sofie broke the silence.

"Danny, can I ask you something important?" she asked, dropping the spoon in to the bowl and looking over at Danny.

"Of course, you know you can."

"After tomorrow, once you and mami are married…what do I call you?"

"What do you mean sweetie?"

"I mean, do I keep calling you Uncle Danny, or just Danny or something else?" Sofie asked, looking at him expectantly for an answer.

Danny paused. He hadn't thought of that.

"You can call me whatever you want Sofie. I'm not picky about it—whatever you're comfortable with," Danny replied with a reassuring smile.

"I was thinking…if it was ok with you…that maybe since we're now…since we're now a family…" Sophie stammered, trying to work up the courage to ask what she had wanted to ask for the past week.

"Just say it sweetie, it's ok…" Danny said in a comforting tone.

"Would it be ok if I call you Dad? I know you're not my real dad, but I could still call you that. When my friend Karen's mom got married last year, she said she had a new dad…and I just think it would be nicer if I could call you that, especially since you've always acted like my father and take really good care of mami and me and—"

"Sofie!" Danny said with a laugh, interrupting her. She was just like her mother in the way she would ramble off and talk in circles when she was nervous about something.

"Mi linda, you really want to call me Dad?" Danny asked, almost as if in amazement that Sofie would even consider such a thing.

"Yes, I'd like that very much."

"I'd be honored to be your Dad then," Danny said with a big grin.

Sofie squealed and threw her arms around Danny's neck for a big hug.

"You already are."

* * *

_Mom was half surprised when we showed up at lunch with a big tray of crepes, but even more so when I had announced to everyone that I had made them with my Dad. You could see the surprise in her eyes and she glanced from me to Dad, then back to me. Dad leant over and whispered something to Mom and she broke out into a big grin, realizing what had transpired that morning._

_From that day on, I called Danny my Dad and there were never any questions about it. In fact, a few days after they both returned from their trip to Hawaii, we went down to the Family Courts and Danny officially became my father. And, just like my mother, I had become a Delgado Taylor._

_It was a special day, indeed._

"Sofie! Where are you chica? I can't make these crepes without your help!" Dad's voice shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm coming! I'll be there in a second," Sofie replied as Tiago jumped up from his spot and bolted for the kitchen.

She quickly saved what she had written in a separate file, deciding she would copy and paste it into the right spot once she got there in the main file.

With that, she hurried down to the kitchen and went right to her spot next to the griddle set up on the counter.

"What took you so long, mamita?" Elena asked, as she sat at the kitchen table feeding Tony.

"School stuff. I wanted to write something down before I forgot about it," Sofie quickly responded, grabbing the stick from Danny and gently spreading the batter out like she had done a hundred times before.

She smiled up at Danny and they exchanged a knowing glance about the significance of making crepes.

"Thanks Dad."

"Anytime sweetheart," Danny replied, placing a kiss on her forehead.

Sofie grinned and turned back to focus at her task on hand.

**TBC**

* * *

Please R/R! Thanks.


	4. Chapter 4: Crescendo

**Chapter Four: Crescendo**

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Just to address something that was brought up by a reviewer in regards to the grammar/mechanics of this story. English is not my first language, and I am trying very hard to correct any mistakes and become a better writer. My apologies if there are any glaring mistakes and inconsistencies. Thanks.

* * *

After breakfast was finished and the kitchen tidied, Danny went outside to shovel and salt the front steps and walkway. A considerable amount of snow had fallen overnight and their entire street looked like a wintry postcard. 

Elena, meanwhile, was upstairs in Tony's nursery. After changing his diaper quickly, she proceeded to take off his pajamas and chuckled at the outfit that Sofie had helped pick out for him for the day.

She grabbed the small Mets fleece hoodie and gently pulled it on Antonio. Sofie was really her father's daughter in every way. Tony let out a happy gurgle as his mother snapped on the button to his pants and reached up to be picked up.

"You are such a handsome little guy," Elena said, picking up Tony and cuddling him close to her.

Tony laughed in agreement, kicking his feet a bit against her, as if to remind his mother he was still missing his shoes.

Elena smiled at his rambunctious spirit and sat down in the rocking chair, placing him in her lap as she finished up dressing him with his shoes. Sofie emerged at the door a few moments later.

"I'm ready to go mami," Sofie said, as Elena glanced up from tying her brother's shoe to see that her daughter had finished changing too.

"We're almost done here. Why don't you grab the list from the fridge and I'll meet you at the front door? I just need to quickly pack Tony's bag and we'll be good to go."

"Ok, maybe Dad could use my help?" Sofie asked, turning to head down the hall towards the stairs.

"That's a good idea. Thank you mamita," Elena replied, watching Sofie disappear down the hall.

Finishing up with his shoes, Elena placed Tony on the floor to play for a moment as she quickly threw a few things into a diaper bag. Satisfied she had everything she needed; she slung the bag on her shoulder, picked up Tony and made her way downstairs.

She could see through the window that Danny and Sofie were outside on their frontwalk, scattering salt down. Tiago was sprawled in his usual spot by the front window, watching his sister and father intently and wondering why they hadn't let him go outside with them. He glanced up when he heard Elena's footsteps, and tilted his head to the side, as if asking Elena the same question.

"Next time buddy, we don't want you to get all wet this morning," Elena said, setting Tony down on a chair next to the door and grabbing his winter jacket from the hall closet.

Tiago let out a noise that must have been the equivalent to a doggy sigh and turned back to watching Danny and Sofie outside. Elena smiled at the dogs' antics and turned back to getting Tony ready for their trip to the grocery store.

Every Saturday morning they would make a trip to the local store to stock up for the week. It had become a weekly tradition that also involved stopping by at her mother's place for lunch. Lunch at Nana Isabel's place on Saturdays was a Delgado tradition. Her mother expected her sons and daughter to come over with their families once a week if they were available and they had grown accustomed to this weekly tradition.

She smiled when she remembered the first time Danny attended a Saturday lunch…

* * *

"_Are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe it'll be better if I met your brothers one-by-one?" Danny asked nervously, as they stood in front of her mother's door._

"_Don't be such a baby Danny! You'll be fine, plus, I already told everyone I was bringing you this week and they'll be disappointed if you don't show up," Elena replied, knocking on the door loudly._

_Noise could already be heard coming from the other side of the door—music playing, chattering and the squeals and laughter of kids._

_Danny gulped, it was now time to face the ultimate test: Elena's brothers._

_He had heard lots about the Delgado Brothers over the years. He would hear random stories from Carlos when they were still friends and he was still together with Elena about how her three older brothers were extremely protective of their baby sister. They would constantly keep him on his toes and give him grief at family get-togethers and functions. He would laugh at Carlos' stories and tell him he better not mess around with Elena or her brothers' would be on him with a flash._

_And, now, he was about to meet them for the first time and he was nervous as hell. They had been dating for almost nine months by now and although he was apprehensive in meeting the rest of Elena's family, he knew it was time. She was becoming a bigger and bigger part of his life, and he wanted her to know that he was in this for the long haul. And, meeting the rest of her family was a good first step._

"_Don't worry, you'll be fine. They don't bite!" Elena said with a reassuring grin, leaning over and placing a quick peck on the corner of his mouth._

"_Lets hope not."_

"_You'll like them Danny, they're just like you!" Sofie piped up next to them. She was eager to play with her cousins already._

_The door swung open and Elena's mother greeted them eagerly._

"_You're here! Finally!" Isabel said with a big smile, leaning down to give Sofie a hug and kiss. "We've been waiting for you."_

"_Sorry we're late mami, we had to stop by the office to drop off a few things," Elena explained, giving her mother a kiss and a hug._

"_No problema mamita," Isabel said, stepping aside to let them in. "Come in!"_

_Sofie bolted past them and ran straight over to her cousins while Elena gently nudged Danny forward from his spot at the door._

"_Thank you for inviting me Isabel, I know how important Saturdays are for your family," Danny said, leaning down and giving Elena's mother a kiss for a greeting._

"_You are more than welcome Danny, you're part of this family now, you know?" Isabel said with a grin and a wink. "Make yourself at home! The food should be ready soon" she said, turning to head back towards the kitchen._

_Elena quickly took off her jacket and held out her hand as Danny did the same. She took his jacket and turned to walk down the hall._

"_I'll be right back…I'm just going to put these in the spare room," Elena said as she ducked into a room._

_Danny stood alone in the front hallway wondering what he should do. He decided to wait a few moments for Elena to return, as she could act as his buffer._

_He heard footsteps from behind him, and he spun around to see a tall, well-built man with a goatee approach him._

"_Hi, you must be Danny…I thought you might need this," he said with a smile, passing him a beer. _

"_Gracias," Danny said, taking the bottle even though he wasn't planning on drinking it._

"_I'm Edgardo, Elena's oldest brother. You can call me Eddie," the man said, extending his hand out. "It's nice to finally meet you Danny, I've heard lots about you."_

"_Only good things, I hope," Danny said, shaking Eddie's hand firmly._

"_I'm not sure about that," he said with a grin._

_Edgardo Delgado. Danny knew he was Elena's oldest brother, six years between them. She had told Danny little things about her family here and there over the last few months and had also given Danny a full rundown on everyone he was going to meet over breakfast that morning. He knew that Eddie was a successful lawyer at a big name law firm downtown and was married to a woman named Irma. Together they had four kids and lived just over the river in Hoboken, New Jersey._

"_Hey Eddie," Elena said, reemerging from the room and walking up to them._

"_Elenita!" Eddie said with a huge smile, turning to give his sister a big hug. "It feels like forever since I last saw you."_

"_Well, I'm not the one that has such a hard time showing up for Saturday lunch," Elena said with a grin, slightly poking Eddie on the side._

_Danny watched their exchange with a grin._

"_Eddie and his family rarely show up on Saturdays…something about being too busy for Mami's famous brunch?" Elena explained to Danny._

"_We come as often as we can! Plus, I wouldn't miss today for anything. When Mami called and told me that you were bringing a friend today…" Eddie said with a big grin, trailing off._

"_Eddie, be nice! Remember what I said when I called you yesterday!" Elena said, hitting her brother on the arm._

_Elena glared at Eddie, giving him a look that he had knew well growing up. The night before Elena was overcome with a sudden feeling of panic for the next day. She was helping Sofie with some of her homework and waiting to get a call from Danny when she flashed back to the times when she brought home a boyfriend in high school. Her brothers would mercilessly put her date through the ringer and left Elena so embarrassed. _

_They did the same with Carlos when they finally met all those years ago and she knew what an effective tag-team her brothers could be when evaluating potential boyfriends. She wanted to avoid any problems the next day at all cost, and ended up calling each one of her brothers to remind them to be on their best behavior and that she was no longer a little kid who needed their constant protection. _

_She also didn't want to stress Danny out anymore than he already was about meeting them, and she just wanted everything to go well. Especially, since she was really hoping that everyone would love Danny as much as she did. While her family's approval of the men she dated didn't mean everything to her, she had realized over the years that it did mean something, for them to be happy as well._

"_I know, I know…" Eddie said with a laugh, giving his sister a reassuring smile. "Anyways, it's nice to finally meet you Danny. I apologize ahead of time for the utter chaos that takes place here every Saturday, but I'm sure you'll just fit right in."_

"_Thank you Eddie, I'm happy to be here," Danny said, already feeling better about the entire situation._

"_Come on in…I'll introduce you to everyone else, they're all very excited to meet you too," Eddie said, as they followed him into the family room._

_While making their way to meet the rest of the family, Elena noticed the beer in Danny's hand and gave him an odd look._

"_Your brother gave it to me," Danny whispered, knowing exactly what she was curious about._

"_Let me have it, I think I need it…" Elena replied quietly as Danny passed it over to her and she took a quick swig._

"_Hey everyone, meet Danny…" Eddie said, getting everyone's attention. What had to be at least fifteen set of eyes turned towards them, and the hubbub of the room quickly stopped._

"_That's my wife Irma," Eddie said, pointing out a petite woman setting the table. "And my kids…Eddie Jr…Sara…Natalia and baby Hector," Eddie finished, pointing out his kids who were scattered around the room. _

"_This is Efrain," Elena said as a stockier man stood up from the couch and approached Danny._

"_Nice to meet you Danny, we've heard lots about you," Efrain said with a warm smile._

_Danny shook his hand and smiled at his comment. For some reason he had a feeling that they all knew a lot more about him than he did of them. The only thing he know about Efrain was that he was four years older than Elena and worked for US Customs at JFK._

"_That's my wife Marcela helping Mami with the food," Efrain said, pointing out his wife who was busy in the kitchen. "And my two ninos Alfonso and Luis," he said, pointing out his two sons sitting on the beanbag cushions. _

"_Nice to meet you all," Danny said, doing his darnest to remember the correct faces with the names. _

"_And, lastly, that's Ernesto—you can just call him Ernie," Elena said, pointing out her last brother who was carrying a small toddler in his arms._

_He came over and gave Danny a handshake as he shifted his daughter to his other arm._

"_Welcome to la familia," Ernie began, "you have no idea what you're getting yourself into," he finished with a laugh._

_Ernie was just two years older than Elena and was a high school teacher. He was also a splitting image of his sister and growing up people would oftentimes think they were twins._

"_This here, is little Rosita," Ernie said, introducing Danny to the toddler in his arms. "Isabela is over there playing with Sofie and Natalia and my wife Pilar is in the kitchen."_

_With introductions out of the way, Danny soon found himself swarmed by all of Elena's nieces and nephews, who were firing off question after question at him._

"_Do you work at the FBI too?!"_

"_Can you shoot better than Tia?"_

"_Is it true that you take Sofie to Mets games?"_

"_Why do you have a funny last name?"_

_Elena smiled as she watched him sit down on the couch and tried to answer the questions he was asked as best as he could._

"_Yes, I work at the FBI…I don't think anyone can shoot better than your Aunt…yes, I've taken Sofie to Mets games, I have season tickets…Is my last name funny? Why's that?"_

_It wasn't long before the food was served and everyone fell into their usual routine for Saturday lunch. The kids ate quickly, talking amongst them excitedly about new things happening in school and with their friends. The Delgado siblings caught up with each other as well, telling each other the latest developments going on in their lives while Isabel listened intently. Danny was soon exchanging easy conversations with various people around the table. He was a bit lost when it came to inside family jokes and running conversations, but Elena would always make it a point to lean over and explain something to him quickly when she knew he wasn't following along._

_An hour later he found himself sitting outside on the balcony with Elena's brothers. The women were inside discussing something about a birthday party for one of their relatives and Danny was asked to follow the brothers outside._

_He sat on a wicker chair and placed his glass of ice tea on the small table next to the chair._

"_Are you sure you don't want a beer Danny?" Ernie asked, closing the sliding door behind him as he came out with a couple of beers for his brother._

"_No, I'm fine, thank you," Danny said._

"_I get it man, you don't want to be under the influence of anything when you visit your girl's family for the first time—I know that feeling," Efrain said with a chuckle, taking the beer from his brother._

"_Yeah, something like that," said Danny with a sheepish grin, not wanting to go into the particulars of why he didn't want any alcohol._

"_See, he's a smart guy," Eddie said, setting his beer down on the table. "Not to drag out old skeletons from the closet, but the first time we all met Carlos, he was a bit loosey goosey, if you know what I mean."_

"_I remember! And remember his little speech towards the end of lunch when he went on and on about how proud he was for being a Boricua? It was the craziest thing we've heard especially since Elena had told us beforehand that his parents were from Cuba," Ernie said._

"_Nothing against the Cubans, of course," Efrain said, looking over at Danny._

"_None taken," Danny said with a smile. _

"_Elena told us you are close with Carlos?" Eddie asked, looking at him wearily. _

"_I guess I was before—before, you know…all that stuff that happened…" Danny said. "We grew up together and our parents knew each other back in Cuba."_

"_Right, and now?" Ernie asked._

"_Lets just say that we aren't very cordial anymore, and leave it at that," Danny said, taking a sip of his drink._

"_You know, another reason we wanted to meet you today was to thank you for being there for Elena and Sofie during that time. You know how independent Elena is when it comes to stuff like that…" Efrain said, trailing off._

"_We didn't even know about what had happened until Mami told us a few days later. It's always been difficult to get Elena to open up about her problems so that we can help," Eddie explained. _

_There was a few moments of silence as they sat there contemplating the situation._

"_And, for the record, if we find out that you've done anything—and I mean anything—to hurt Elena or Sofie, all three of us will be banging at your door in the blink of an eye, comprende?" Eddie said, looking squarely at Danny._

"_I love Elena and Sofie very much," Danny said seriously. "I'd do everything in my power before I let any harm come to them."_

"_So, it's pretty serious, the two of you, si?" Ernie asked with a smile._

_Danny glanced in through the sliding door to see Elena sitting at the kitchen table, laughing with her sister-in-laws at some photos they were looking at. She was absolutely glowing and happy and Danny couldn't help but feel lucky to have her in his life._

"_Yeah, it is…I haven't felt this way about anybody before and I really think she's the one…plus, Sofie's the greatest and I love her to death, too," Danny answered, still looking at Elena through the glass door._

_At that moment, Elena turned towards his direction and noticed he was looking at her. She smiled and gave him a small wave._

"_Well, I can tell you that I haven't seen Elena so happy before, so whatever you are doing must be working," Eddie said with a smile as he saw the exchange. _

"_Just take good care of her and Sofie, ok? If you promise us that, you'll never have any problems with us," Efrain said._

_Danny only nodded and took another sip of his drink._

* * *

From that day on, Danny was more than welcome at Delgado family events and soon became a staple at Saturday lunches, birthday parties, anniversaries and baptisms. Elena felt somewhat relieved that he had been accepted by everyone so quickly and had decided that that credit was fully Danny's. He was always happy to see her family members and on more than one occasion had stepped up to the plate in helping out whenever he was needed. 

Elena quickly finished putting on her jacket when the front door quickly opened and Danny walked in.

"Ready to go?" he asked, grabbing his keys and wallet that he had left on the side mail table by the door.

"Yup, we're ready to go," Elena said, pulling on a beanie before turning to look at her son, who was all bundled up. "Ready little guy?" she asked Tony, as she picked him up from the chair.

Tony replied by babbling animatedly as Danny grabbed the diaper bag and held the door out open for them.

"Vamanos!" Danny said with a grin, letting them step past him before locking up.

* * *

"Mom, are these green enough?" Sofie asked, showing her mother a bunch of plantains. 

"Yeah, those look good. Find another bunch about the same color for me, mamita?"

"Ok," Sofie replied, skipping over to the display of plantains and looking for another bunch.

"Did your mother forget the most important ingredient for her _mofongo_?" Danny asked, dropping a bag of apples into their cart.

"Yeah, she just called saying the ones she bought yesterday were already changing color and wanted us to get her some really green ones…" Elena said, busy picking out oranges.

"Nana said I could use the tostonera today! She let Natalia do it last week and she promised me it would be my turn today," Sofie said, returning to their cart with another bunch of plantains.

"Using the tostonera is half the fun of making them!" Danny said with a grin, remembering his own childhood when they would use a big pan to substitute for the press.

Elena pushed the cart forward as she headed over to the dairy section, leaving Danny and Sofie to continue their discussion of the finer points of making_tostones_.

"You just wait until you can eat solid foods Tony," she said to her son who was sitting happily in the seat of the shopping cart. "Your Nana had Sofie gnawing on tostones the minute her baby teeth came out."

Antonio giggled, as if understanding what his mother way saying and proceeded to play with a cucumber that was given to him a few minutes ago.

She loaded her cart with milk, butter, yoghurt and cheeses before turning down the aisle with the baking ingredients. She was grabbing a package of rock sugar when she heard a man's voice behind her.

"Elena, Elena Delgado? Is that you?"

She spun around with the sugar in hands, looking slightly startled.

"It is you!" the man said with a big grin.

Elena looked at the man closely. He was a tall guy, about the same age as her with a soul patch just below his lip. There was something about the features in his face that made her think she knew this guy well, but for the life of her she couldn't place who he was.

"You don't remember me, do you?" the man said with a laugh, taking in Elena's puzzled expression.

Elena racked her mind as to where she last saw this man, and it suddenly dawned on her. Junior year of high school…it was Ricky Santiago!

"Ricky! Omigosh, I haven't seen you in what…fifteen plus years or something?" Elena said, setting the sugar in her cart and giving Ricky a big hug.

"It has been that long, at least!" he said, returning her hug and pulling back to take a good look at her. "You look great Elena, you haven't changed a bit."

"Well, lets hope that my hair is a bit better, no?" Elena said with a laugh, already flashing back to the horrendous haircut she had back in high school.

"Nah, you knew that I thought you were the prettiest girl around, crazy hair and all!" Ricky said with a chuckle. "It wasn't like my 'do was any better."

"So what are you doing back in the old neighborhood? Does your grandmother still live around here?" Elena asked, thinking back to time when they grew up down the street from each other and went to school together.

"Abeula passed away last year after a long fight with cancer."

"I'm so sorry Ricky…I didn't know…I remember how much you loved her," Elena replied, kicking herself for bringing up such sad news.

"Yeah. I'm actually just in town this weekend for a friend's wedding."

"Sounds like fun; it's too bad you're just here for such a short time…we need to catch up!"

"Apparently!" Ricky said with a grin, looking at the small child sitting in Elena's cart. "So I take it this little guy is yours?"

"He sure is. Ricky, meet my son Antonio…he's a little over six months old."

"It's nice to meet you Antonio, you look just like your mother," Ricky said, leaning down and giving the top of Tony's head a pat. He glanced over at Elena's left hand and noticed her rings.

"Marriage and children suits you Elena, I've always thought you'd make a great mother and wife...you know, even after hitting the ripe old age of twenty-five…"

* * *

"_Lets make a deal Elena," Ricky said as they sat on the swings in the playground behind their elementary school building._

"_What kind of deal?" ten-year old Elena asked, kicking her feet a bit to move herself back and forth in the swing._

"_Sort of a promise."_

"_Uh huh," Elena said, waiting for Ricky to continue._

"_Promise me that we'll always be friends and we'll grow old together?"_

"_What?" Elena asked, confused as to what Ricky was saying._

"_Like abuelo and abuela…" Ricky said, trying his best to explain._

"_But they're married Ricky!"_

"_I know that Elena," Ricky replied quickly, trying to backpedal on his statement._

"_You want us to get married in the future?" Elena asked, looking over at Ricky as she continued to swing._

"_No…yes…well…how about if when we're both…twenty-five…and are not married yet…we should marry each other then," Ricky said quickly, formulating his plan in his head as he went._

"_Why would I agree to that?" Elena asked, a bit put off that he was suggesting something like that._

"_Because…because I know you dream about your wedding day, and how you want to have a good husband and start a family," Ricky said. "And, you'll have to start that by twenty-five!" he finished._

"_Oh."_

_Elena thought about his proposition, thinking there was some truth to what he was suggesting. Plus, she liked Ricky and wouldn't be completely adverse to the idea._

"_Ok, you have yourself a deal," Elena finally answered, sticking out her hand to shake his._

"_Pinky swear," Ricky said, sticking out his pinky. _

_Elena stuck out her pinky and connected it with his._

"_Pinky swear."_

* * *

Elena smiled, remembering exactly what Ricky was referring to. And, if Ricky and his family hadn't moved away when they did, who knows if they would have kept that promise—especially since they "dated" from middle school and onwards… 

"Thanks Ricky, and how about you? You have a wife and kids out west?"

"I'm divorced."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear," Elena said, not believing her luck in bringing up her second sour topic in the span of five minutes.

"No, it's totally fine. It was for the best, and besides, if it wasn't for my marriage, I wouldn't have Jaime—my five year old son. He's such a great kid," Ricky explained.

"That's good to hear. I'm sure he loves you to bits," Elena said, as she moved over to the side of the aisle to let an old lady pass.

They continued to talk, bringing each other up to speed in their lives. Ricky's mouth dropped a bit when he found out that Elena was a FBI Agent, totally not believing that the girl he grew up with became a gun-toting-bone fide Special Agent for the government.

As Ricky explained his job with a big Hollywood production company, Danny and Sofie spotted Elena in the aisle, and came over to them.

"Mami! Daddy said we could make jello treats at Nana's place," Sofie said, approaching her mother with several boxes of jello in her hands. "I thought getting red and blue ones would…" Sofie continued, before noticing that her mother was talking to someone. "Oh…hi."

Danny caught up to his daughter and also noticed that Elena was talking to somebody. He dropped a few things into the cart before turning to Elena for some kind of introduction.

"Ricky, this is my husband Danny and our daughter Sofie," Elena said, gesturing to the rest of her family. "This is Ricky Santiago—we grew up and went to school together."

"Nice to meet you Ricky," Danny said, extending out his hand.

"Likewise Danny," Ricky replied, grasping his hand firmly.

"Ricky and his family moved out to California the summer before our senior year of high school and we haven't seen each other since then…" Elena explained, giving Danny some background.

"You knew mami when she was my age?" Sofie asked.

"I sure did. I lived just down the street and would always come over to play with Elena or her brothers."

"Cool," Sofie said, finding it interesting that she was meeting people who knew her mother when she was small.

"I'd love to keep talking, but I am already running behind for the wedding rehearsal. Perhaps I can give you a call the next time in New York and we can catch up some more? Or, better yet, let me know if you ever come out to LA? I'm not far too from Disneyland and I'm sure the kids will love it," Ricky suggested, pulling out his card from his wallet and handing it to Elena.

"That sounds great, we might just take you up pn that offer!" Elena said, taking out her own card and exchanging it with Ricky's.

"Sounds like a plan. It was nice seeing you again Elena…send my best to your mother and brothers, ok?" Ricky said. "Hasta luego," he said with a smile before turning to the front of the store and disappearing around the corner.

Danny looked on with a smile as Elena pushed the cart forward towards the meat section, Sofie trailing behind them as she examined the shelves.

"That wouldn't happen to be 'first kiss' and 'first time' Ricky, now would it?" Danny asked, remembering one of their dates from the beginning of their relationship in which they played a version of 'truth or dare'.

"In fact, that was…" Elena said with a small smile, knowing it was going to annoy Danny to no end.

"He seemed like a good guy," Danny commented, as Elena picked up several packs of chicken.

"He is," Elena said, turning back to look at Danny who had since taken over her spot behind the cart. Tony reached up to his father and started pulling at his scarf, craving for some attention.

"No flashbacks or desire to return to your glory days?" Danny kidded, razzing her a bit.

"Nah, I think I have done pretty well for myself since then, don't you think?" Elena said coyly as she gave Danny a quick kiss before walking towards the check-out lines.

Danny laughed inwardly at her response, and dutifully followed his wife, pushing the cart closely behind her.

* * *

"Hey everyone, Marcela and I have an announcement to make," Efrain said as lunch was winding down. 

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at them at the head of the table. Efrain and his family had made the trip out from Buffalo for the weekend, and were staying with his mother.

"Marcela and I are expecting another baby," Efrain said proudly as his wife smiled. "So by next summer you'll be proud Uncles and Aunts again."

"And, lets hope this one is a girl!" Marcela said with another smile, her hand on her stomach. "I don't think I could manage four boys!"

Everyone laughed and congratulated them about the good news. Sofie turned to her cousins Natalia and Isa, excited about the news.

"You think Tio Efrain and Tia Marcela will finally have a girl?" she asked them, taking another bite out of her _pasteles_.

"I wouldn't want to be the only girl with brothers like Poncho, Luis and Robbie!" Isa said, working on her own _pasteles_.

"Yeah, I agree…they'll end up teaming up on you!" Natalia said, taking a sip of her milk.

"I don't know…my mom is the youngest and only girl, and she says she didn't mind having three older brothers looking out for her," Sofie said, taking the last bite and folding the banana leaf up again.

"I guess, but I still wouldn't like it!" Isa said as Natalia nodded in agreement.

Sofie looked over at her mother who was giving Tio Efrain a big hug, obviously excited about the news. Dad had Tony in his arms, congratulating Tia Marcela on the news and saying he'd keep his fingers crossed for a girl too.

She thought back to fourteen months earlier when her parents sat her down to tell her some important news as well…

* * *

_Sofie entered the apartment, dropping her knapsack next to the shoe rack and quickly took off her jacket and hung it on the peg. She was supposed to be home almost twenty minutes ago, and she just knew she was going to get an earful from her mother._

_Ever since Elena had transferred to the WCCU, she was home more with a regular work day, and it was something that Sofie was still adjusting too. She was used to being picked up and staying with her Nana after school or going to a friends' house to do schoolwork until her mother was able to come get her._

_Sofie loved that she got to see her Mom a lot more, but it was a moment like this that she wished she was showing up late at her Nana's place, who for the most part was pretty understanding in her tardiness. _

"_Mom, I'm home…" Sofie said, picking up her knapsack again and moving it to the kitchen table where she usually spent a few hours working on homework before dinner. "I'm sorry I'm late, I sort of lost track of time at the library with Jamia…"_

_Sofie dropped her heavy back on the floor next to her chair again, finally glancing up and was surprised to see both her parents behind the counter, preparing dinner._

"_Daddy! You're home early," Sofie said, making her way over to her parents to greet them properly._

"_Yeah, I took half the day off," Danny explained, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel before giving Sofie a hug and a quick kiss._

"_Any particular reason?" Sofie asked as Elena kissed the top of her head._

"_Your mother had a doctor's appointment and I wanted to go with her," Danny explained, looking over at Elena._

_They had both left the Office together after lunch to make a 2pm appointment with Dr. Reyes. It had been a few days since Danny found out that Elena was pregnant, and he had immediately asked Elena to make an appointment with her doctor. He wanted to speak to Dr. Reyes and ask her the many questions he had about everything related to the baby, and Elena thought it was incredibly like Danny to take such a keen interest._

"_Is everything ok?" Sofie asked, jumping to sit on one of the kitchen stools facing her parents._

"_Everything's great mamita," Elena said, putting down the knife and looking up at Sofie. "In fact, your father and I have some important news to share with you."_

_Sofie looked up at her parents expectantly, knowing it must be something very important if both of them were telling her together. _

"_What do you think about becoming a big sister?" Danny asked with a huge grin._

_There was a pause as Sofie took a moment to process the announcement._

"_Seriously?" she finally asked, not sure if her parents were joking are not._

"_Yes, seriously. You are going to have a little brother or sister by next spring," Elena said, trying to gauge Sofie's reaction._

_She looked at both of them with a wide gaze, as if still trying to process the news._

"_What are you thinking sweetie?" Danny asked, turning serious._

"_I don't know…" Sofie said, trying to put her thoughts together. "I mean, I've always wanted a little brother or sister…but I kinda like how things are now…I mean, just the three of us…"_

"_Change is good though mamita…and I already know your little brother or sister will love you to death and think the world of you."_

"_Do I have to share my room with the new baby?" Sofie asked._

"_No, you wouldn't have to. Hopefully we'll be in a new place by that time…and you can have a bigger room."_

"_Are you ok with this?" Elena asked again, studying her daughter closely. She was a bit surprised at Sofie's lack of emotion involving the news as she had half expected her to irrupt with joy._

_For quite a few years now Sofie would "gently" remind her that she really, really, REALLY wanted a little baby brother or sister. All her friends had younger siblings and she wanted the same. It was understandable that her daughter wanted a younger sibling, but she was too young to understand that it wasn't like going to the store to buy a toy she really wanted._

"_I'm happy for you mami," Sofie said with a small smile. "Can I be excused? I have a lot of homework."_

"_Ok sweetie, I'll be by in a few minutes to see if you need any help," Danny replied as Sofie hopped off her stool and disappeared down the hall towards her bedroom._

"_That was not the reaction I was imagining," Elena said, turning to face Danny with a worried expression._

"_Maybe she just needs a little time to adjust to the news? It's going to be a big change for her," Danny said, trying to make the best of the situation._

"_I'm not sure…"_

"_Give her some time, she'll come around."_

_Elena nodded in agreement, knowing that Danny was most probably right and she shouldn't get herself worked up over nothing._

"_I'm going to go see if she needs any help with her homework…" Elena said, heading down the hall towards her daughter's room._

_She knocked softly before walking in and perching herself at end of her bed that was the closest to the desk where Sofie was sitting at._

"_You want to talk?" Elena asked quietly, looking at her daughter's reflection in the mirror on the wall in front of her desk._

_Sofie dropped the pencil and looked at her mother through the mirror. _

"_About what?" she asked, turning in her chair to face her mom._

"_How about your feelings about a new sibling? Your dad and I were a bit surprised at your reaction when we told you the news."_

"_Oh. You were?" Sofie asked, trying to hide her disappointment that she was unable to mask her feelings._

"_I can read you like a book Sofie, just tell me what's wrong," Elena gently prodded._

_Sofie took a deep breath and decided she was just going to say what she knew. She actually wasn't that surprised when she heard the news, she knew it was bound to happen sooner or later._

"_I just don't want you and Dad to start fighting…" Sofie began, trying to explain her thoughts._

"_What do you mean sweetie? Your father and I very rarely fight about things, you know that. It's always best to work things out calmly…" Elena replied, taking a hold of her daughter's hand and giving it a squeeze._

"_It's just that I remember last time you were thinking about having another baby…things between you and Dad got worse and you were fighting even more than usual back then," Sofie finished, Elena knowing she was referring to Carlos._

_Elena flashed back to a few months before she had finally left Carlos. Her period had been two weeks late, and had caused Elena to go to the doctors to make sure everything was alright. A part of her was keeping her fingers crossed that it was nothing—it was such a bad time in her life right now. But, she could also feel a little part of her that felt that perhaps a new baby could help fix the problems between her and Carlos. She remembered how excited Carlos had been when she told him she was expecting Sofie…_

_She quickly snapped out of her thoughts. She should be thankful that she wasn't pregnant back then, especially considering how Carlos reacted to the news when Elena told him._

"_Sofie, things back then were already really, really bad. The possibility of a baby did not change things," Elena replied._

"_You and Dad fought more after that…I know, because I could tell…"_

"_We weren't fighting more because of the baby sweetie. I think what happened was just the last breaking point for the both of us…"_

"_So, there won't be a breaking point between you and Daddy now?" Sofie asked, using her mother's terminology. _

"_No, mamita. We are both very excited about the baby and we want you to be too," Elena _

"_So you're positive that things between you and Dad won't change and get worse? That you are both very happy about it?" Sofie asked again, trying to reassure herself._

"_Did you see the look on your father's face when he told you? He had that big goofy grin he only gets when he's really, really, really happy about something," Elena said with a similar grin._

"_He did, didn't he?" Sofie said, remembering the smile on her dad's face._

"_So, you're ok about this, right?"_

_Sofie thought for a second. She was relieved to hear that things between her parents were still great and that they were excited about the baby. The more she thought about it, she couldn't wait for a new baby brother or sister! She could teach her younger sibling many things and now she would have somebody to play with like her friends…_

"_Yeah mami, I'm happy about the baby! I can't wait to be a big sister!" Sofie replied, a big smile appearing on her face. "When will you know if it's going to be a boy or girl?"_

"_In a few months," Elena said, pleased that Sofie's apparent unhappiness about the news was over something so small. "Do you want a baby sister or brother?"_

"_It doesn't matter to me, either is fine."_

_Elena smiled and leaned down to press a kiss on Sofie's forehead._

"_That's good. Why don't you go outside and tell that to your father. I'm sure he's sitting wondering what you are thinking about in regards to the baby…"_

_Sofie nodded and made her way out to the living room. Danny was sitting on the couch watching television. He looked up when she entered the room, Elena following close behind her. Without hesitation, Sofie scampered over to her father and threw her arms around his neck._

_Danny laughed at her sudden exuberance and returned the hug, shifting Sofie onto his lap._

"_I'm happy about the baby Daddy," Sofie murmured into her father's neck, content to be in his arms like this. _

"_I'm so happy to hear that sweetie," Danny replied, looking up at Elena and giving her a 'what happened?' face._

_Elena just smiled._

"_Later," she mouthed to him, she'd explain everything to him later._

* * *

Sofie made a mental note to herself to include that memory in her school assignment once she got home. 

Looking back, she felt rather silly that she had reacted the way she did. Having a baby brother was the best and she enjoyed being a big sister immensely.

"Would you want another baby sister or brother?" Isa asked Sofie, snapping her back into the present. "Tony's still pretty small, but before you know it he's going to be walking around and talking and maybe your parents might want another baby!"

"I wouldn't mind," Sofie replied, looking over at her parents who were still talking with her Uncles and Aunts. "I think Dad once told me he wanted at least three kids running around in the house…he says big families are the best, and I agree."

Sofie smiled as her cousins switched topics to a movie they wanted to see, and agreed to ask their parents if they could go watch it together the next weekend.

"Sofia Maria, could you please come here to help me?"

Sofie turned when her name was called and knew it had to be Nana. She was the only one who would call her by her full name like that.

"Si Nana?" Sofie said, walking over towards her grandmother and taking her outstretched hand.

"I thought you'd like to help me pick out a pendant for Juan's christening tomorrow," Nana said, as they walked towards her bedroom.

"Sort of the like the one I have?" Sofie asked, fingering the gold chain she wore around her neck that had a small cross and pendant.

"Si. I always give one on baptism day and its Juan's turn tomorrow."

Baby Juan was the youngest of Nana's grandchildren. He was just a few months old and Tio Ernie's pride and joy being his first son.

Once in Nana's bedroom, Sofie sat down on her bed and she watched her grandmother walk over to a warn-out wooden chest sitting on top of her dresser. She pulled out a small drawer and took out a small pouch.

"You know, the one you are wearing was actually your mother's when she was little. It's a special one because it's been passed down every generation to the first born daughters," Nana explained as she sat down next to Sofie.

"Really?" Sofie asked, running her thumb against the smooth edge of the gold pendant.

"Si. My grandmother passed it down to my mother, who passed it onto me. I was worried that I wouldn't get the chance to pass it down with all your Uncles…but little Elenita was a surprise," Nana explained.

"You mean you didn't plan on having another baby after Tio Ernie?"

"I thought three boys were more than enough! But your grandfather really wanted a daughter, so we tried one last time."

"Abuelo sounds like a smart man, if not, mami wouldn't have been born!"

"Si, your abuelo was a very smart man," Nana said, thinking back to her late husband. "So, now that you know the story about your pendant…you can pass it on to your first daughter and keep the tradition alive."

"Cool," Sofie said, looking at her pendant with a new found appreciation.

They were interrupted when Danny knocked on the door and stuck his head inside.

"Everything ok in here?"

"Si. Nana's just telling me a story," Sofie replied.

"We're about to head out soon…we have a few errands to run. Mom and I will wait outside until you're ready, ok?" Danny said.

"Ok, I'll be out soon."

Sofie turned back to her grandmother and looked at the four different pendants sitting on her hand. She took a good look at each one, trying to find the one that was perfect for little Juan.

"I like this one the best," Sofie said, picking one out where St. Nicholas was standing with his arms outstretched.

"Then, this one it is. I will have to pick out a chain for it tomorrow morning."

Sofie nodded and helped Nana return the other three pendants into the drawer.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning Nana," Sofie said, turning to her grandmother and placing kisses on her cheek. "Mom said we'll be there extra early to help out."

"Gracias Sofia. I'll see you tomorrow," Isabel replied, placing a warm kiss on her granddaughter's cheek before watching her leave the room.

She was such a sweet and considerate girl Isabel thought to herself. She was going to grow up to a smart, humble and beautiful young lady.

Her little Elenita was such a difficult child to raise. She inherited that same strong and fiery spirit she had growing up, and would constantly do things her own way. As a teenager, Isabel constantly worried that Elena was on the wrong path—choosing to not focus on her studies and hanging out with questionable friends.

It wasn't until Elena's beloved father passed away during her junior year in high school that things began turning around. In a span of a year, Isabel noticed remarkable change in her daughter's behavior and attitude. She would find out a few years later that Elena had made a promise to her father on his death bed to make something out of her life.

Isabel was brimming with pride when Elena finally graduated from college, but was utterly baffled when her daughter announced her intentions to join the police force. Isabel just couldn't understand the reasoning behind that decision, but nonetheless gave Elena her unconditional support.

That support continued as she watched her daughter fall in love, have a child, struggle with a crumbling relationship and ultimately become a single mom. Through it all, Isabel did whatever she could to help Elena—never questioning her decisions or choices. She watched on once more as Elena fell in love again, and was happily surprised that the new man in her life brought stability and strength to her daughter.

When Elena and Danny finally married, Isabel felt the last piece of the puzzle was in place. She prided herself for raising four successful and selfless children. She watched as each of them pushed themselves through school, graduated from college and found good jobs in the professions of their choice. She had also watched them blossom in their personal lives—falling in love, marrying and starting their own families. And, with Elena happily married, Isabel felt her job as a parent was complete. Now, she played the role of the doting grandmother, spoiling her grandchildren as much as she could. She reveled in her new role.

Isabel was truly blessed to have such a wonderful family.

"Mami, we're going now!" she heard a voice shout.

She made her way to her front door to see the rest of her family bundling themselves up to leave. Isabel gave her goodbyes to everyone and watched as they left one by one. Elena was the last person left, and turned to give her mother a big hug and kiss.

"I'll see you tomorrow mami," Elena said as she picked up Tony's diaper bag. "Thanks for another great lunch."

"De nada mi amor," Isabel replied, helping Elena with the door.

With one last kiss, Elena disappeared out the door. Isabel locked up and walked over to her front window that overlooked the street. She watched as Elena reached the sidewalk and proceeded to walked over to her car parked on the other side of the street. Danny was adjusting Tony's car seat and Sofie was already in the backseat singing along to the radio.

Elena waited for a car to pass before darting across the street. She opened the trunk of the car and dropped the diaper bag in before making her way over to the passenger side. She waited as Danny finished with Tony and shut the door.

Isabel watched her son-in-law turn to face Elena and say something that made her daughter burst out into laughter. Danny then leant over and gave Elena a gentle kiss before helping her into the car and slammed the door shut soundly. He quickly made his way around to the other side of the car and they were soon pulling out onto the busy street.

Isabel smiled in satisfaction. Her daughter and her grandchildren were in good hands.

**TBC**

* * *

Please R&R!**  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Tuning

**Chapter 5: Tuning**

Later that afternoon Elena was folding a load of laundry in her room as Antonio was taking his afternoon nap soundly in the bassinet next to the bed.

"Is there anything you need me to pick up?" Danny asked, pulling on a sweater over his head as he walked out of the adjacent closet.

"Not that I can think of, but I can call you if anything comes up," Elena replied, moving on to match socks.

Danny was heading out to meet his brother Rafi for coffee. He had called about thirty minutes earlier and arrangements were made to meet at their usual java joint.

"I'll be back in about an hour, ok?" Danny said, walking over to the bed and helping Elena put a few of the folded items away in their drawers.

"Take your time—it's going to be a quiet afternoon."

Danny nodded and came over and gave Elena a quick kiss before ducking out of the room. Elena grabbed the remaining shirts and quickly placed them in the drawer of the large bureau. As she was closing the drawer, her eyes caught sight of one of the many frames sitting on top.

The photo was of just her and Danny, grinning like fools into the camera. It was taken a few seconds after ringing in the New Year, only a few days after the infamous trip to Buffalo and getting stuck in the snowstorm. They had made plans to go out for New Year's Eve (Sofie would be counting down the New Year with her cousins at Nana Isabel's) and was one of the rare occasions that the two had hit the town.

It would make for a memorable night.

* * *

_Elena was leaning against a railing, overlooking the first floor of the club where a huge mass of people were dancing, gyrating and lord knows what else to the thundering pulse of the music._

_She swept up a strand of hair that had fallen over her face and could already feel her perspiration—she had been dancing hard for the last hour and the club was packed._

_Club Luna was one of those hip and popular night clubs that was always full with young and trendy people. It had become a place to be seen in and getting into Club Luna was quite a difficult task. Danny, fortunately, had a friend who worked PR for the club and was able to get two ultra exclusive VIP tickets to their New Year's Eve party._

_They had gone out for a lovely dinner (it was nice for once to have "adult" conversations) and had arrived at the Club a little after ten. They had immediately hit the dance floor and enjoyed spending time together—they had only gone dancing like this once prior, and it was fun to cut loose. _

_Elena loved to dance and had grown up taking various classes—she liked to think it was in her blood being a Latina. And, the biggest surprise for Elena was that Danny could keep up with her and hold his own. Who would have thought tall and lanky Danny was a natural dancer, and they had thoroughly enjoyed their night thus far._

_Elena scanned the crowd below her for Danny. They had separated from each other a few minutes ago as Danny wanted to say a quick 'hello' to his friend and Elena had to use the bathroom. They had agreed to meet each other in the VIP lounge area that was located on the second floor._

_Elena smiled when she finally spotted Danny in the crowd. He was making his way from the far side, which was quite difficult with people moving around. He was wearing a deep red shirt that had a bit of a shimmer to it and a pair of black pants. Elena eyes followed Danny as he finally made it to the foot of the windy stairs that led up to the second level. Danny, who was scanning the landing for Elena, finally spotted her and their eyes locked. _

_In Danny's eyes, Elena was the only person in the room. He had to pick up his jaw from the floor when Elena had answered her door earlier in the evening—he was truly in awe of the number she was wearing. Her dress was truly breathtaking. It had a plunging neckline, fit snuggly against her curves and showed off ample leg. Simply put, Danny didn't know what hit him, and Elena giggled slightly at his reaction._

"_I bought this just for tonight," Elena had said as she wrapped a long coat around herself in a futile attempt to keep herself warm._

"_You look amazing," Danny had replied, grabbing her hand as they exited her apartment to the awaiting cab. "I think you'll be turning a lot of heads tonight," Danny said with a grin._

"_Don't I always?" she said, raising her left eyebrow slightly with a grin._

_She did. Danny knew that, and sometimes he had to pinch himself to check if Elena being with him was real. He was a lucky man. _

_Back in the Club, Danny watched as Elena turned around, leaning her elbows back against the cool rail as she waited for him to rejoin her. He was only a few steps away from her when all of a sudden a tall man brushed in front of her and effectively invaded Elena's personal space._

"_Hey sweetie," the guy said, leaning his right elbow against the rail and turning his charm up a few notches. He flashed Elena a big greasy smile and gave her a good once over._

"_My name is Geno. I've been watching you for awhile now and I thought it was such a shame that a beautiful lady like yourself was standing here all alone…"_

_Elena couldn't help but smile, not because she liked this guy, but because he epitomized the typical male stereotype of a bad club pickup. He was a pretty good looking guy, Elena could give him that, but he was trying too hard—from the huge amount of product in his hair, to the tacky shirt and pants…it was just too amusing for Elena._

_Danny kept his eyes on Elena as he approached her. He watched as a tall guy come up to her and exchanged a few words. It wasn't a few seconds before he finally reached his girlfriend when the man turned abruptly from Elena and left her in a huff._

"_Looks like Mr. Big Shot got rejected?" Danny said with a grin, easing himself up against Elena and resting his left forearm against the cool banister. _

"_You could say that again," Elena said with a smirk, as she watched Geno retreat back to his group of buddies near the bar._

"_Who would have thought huh? I've always pictured you with somebody tall, tanned skinned and dashing…" Danny said with a grin, following her gaze towards Geno and his friends._

"_I already am," Elena replied with a grin, leaning over and placing a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth._

_Danny smiled in agreement and turned himself to face Elena squarely, placing both his arms on either side of her and trapping her against the banister._

"_Are you enjoying yourself Delgado?" Danny asked, leaning in to nuzzle her neck and she happily sighed._

"_I am, I can't remember the last time I've been out like this…feels like forever!" Elena replied, wrapping her arm around Danny's neck and leaning against him._

"_You ready to get out of here?" Danny asked her, taking her hand warmly in his and leading her towards the exit._

"_Wasn't I just saying I was enjoying myself?" Elena said, a bit perplexed as to why they were leaving. "I thought we were going to countdown here?"_

"_I have a surprise for you," Danny simply said as they grabbed their coats from the counter. He helped her with her coat before taking her hand again and leading her away from the Club._

_They walked in quiet silence as Danny shifted to wrap his right arm around her shoulders to keep Elena warm._

"_Where are we going?" Elena asked, as they turned onto busy Broadway._

"_I thought we should ring in the New Year in style and thought something a bit more private and memorable was in order."_

_Elena smiled to herself at Danny's thoughtfulness._

"_Please don't tell me your idea of private and memorable is crushing ourselves in a sea of bodies at Times Square…" Elena said, as she realized what direction they were walking towards._

"_Not quite…" Danny said with a mischievous grin. "You'll see in a few minutes."_

_They were now a few blocks away from Times Square and had to pick there way through the many New Years revelers. They reached a back alleyway behind one of the large office buildings and Danny quickly turned into the alley._

"_Danny! What are you doing?" Elena asked, miffed that she was walking in an alleyway._

_Danny didn't reply as he continued to lead her down the alley and stopped in front of a nondescript metal door. He banged on it loudly, and a few seconds later the door opened and they were greeted by a tall older man dressed in a security uniform._

"_Sorry we're late Jimmy," Danny said as he gestured for Elena to go inside._

"_Not a problem Taylor, it's starting to look like a zoo out there," the man said, as they followed him down a dimly lit corridor._

"_Jimmy this is my girlfriend Elena Delgado," Danny said, "Elena, this is Jimmy Russell. We're both in the same AA group."_

"_It's nice to meet you Jimmy, although I have no idea what is going on here," she said with a smile._

"_You'll find out soon!" Jimmy said with a warm smile. "It's nice to finally meet you Miss Delgado—Danny talks about you all the time."_

"_I do not Jimmy!" Danny said with a mock tone._

_They turned a corner and Jimmy opened up a set of swinging doors to reveal a set of service elevators._

_Elena was still totally in the dark as to what was happening, and watched as the elevator door opened and Danny held the door open for her._

_She stepped inside the elevator, Danny following close behind her. He pushed the button to the top floor._

"_You have a good time," Jimmy said with a big grin as the door slid shut._

"_Where are we Danny?" Elena asked, turning to face Danny as the elevator shot up._

"_Just one of the office towers near Times Square…" Danny said with a grin, not giving anything away just yet._

"_And what are we doing in this office tower?"_

"_You'll see!"_

_Elena sighed, and resolved to just waiting a few more moments to see what Danny was hiding up his sleeve._

_The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Danny grabbed Elena's hand again and led her off the elevator and down another hallway. After a few moments he stopped in front of a closed door and checked to see if it was unlocked. He smiled as the knob turned and eased the door open._

_Elena walked through the open door and gasped in surprise at what she saw. They were in what appeared to be a large conference room. On top of the table was a beautiful arrangement of roses, a bottle of chilled champagne and a box of pastries from her favorite bakery. But the most amazing part was the view. The conference room had a full wall of windows that gave them a perfect view of Times Square._

"_Wow. This is amazing," Elena whispered as she turned to face Danny. _

"_Surprise!" Danny said with a goofy grin. He somehow had one of those plastic 'Happy New Years' hat on his head now and graciously plunked a matching one on top of Elena's head._

"_I can't believe we're able to do this!" Elena said in amazement._

"_I thought this would be the perfect way to ring in the New Year! Jimmy owed me a favor and I was more than happy to use it for this…"_

_Danny grinned and led Elena over to the windows and pulled out one of the big rolling executive chairs for her to sit in. He grabbed a remote that was sitting on the table and switched on some music. Elena watched Danny as he proceeded to open the bottle of champagne and pour two flutes with the bubbly drink._

"_You surprise me more and more Danny Taylor," she said as she took the glass from Danny._

"_That's why you love me, mi amor," Danny replied with a grin._

_They clinked their glasses as they watched and waited contently for the final moments of the year. Soon, the countdown began and the crystal ball descended and New York City formally welcomed the New Year._

_Up in their conference room, Danny and Elena were enjoying their first kiss of the New Year. They pulled back breathless and couldn't help the silly grins on their faces._

"_Wait, I need a picture to remember this moment by," Elena said, as she grabbed her purse from the table and pulled out her phone. They turned around so that the amazing view of a festive Times Square was behind them, pressed themselves as close to each other as possible. Danny held out Elena's phone in front of them. _

_The flash of the camera went off, capturing the happy moment forever._

* * *

Elena smiled at the memory. That was a wonderful way to start an eventful new year.

She placed the frame back in its spot and decided to head down to the kitchen to figure out what she wanted to make for dinner that night.

* * *

Sofie was back in her room working on her writing assignment. She had been staring at the same sentence for the last fifteen minutes and she still hadn't written anything new.

The words were staring at her, willing her to go on.

_The New Year came and marked the beginning of what was to become a very important and life-changing year for me._

She had so much to say, but didn't know where to start. When in doubt, always start at the beginning, she said to herself and began to type.

_The New Year came and marked the beginning of what was to become a very important and life-changing year for me. It started with a sudden and surprising development in regards to my Dad…_

* * *

"Sofie, I have some important news to tell you," Elena said one evening, as she came into her daughter's room to tuck her in.

"I'm listening Mami," Sofie replied, giving her mother her full attention.

"Remember how last year there was a court trial over what your father did?" Elena asked, hoping her daughter would remember.

"Si. I remember. You said something you did let Dad out."

"Right. And you know since that judge made his decision, a lot of people have been trying to put a new case together so that your father would be held accountable for his actions."

"Uh huh…" Sofie replied, knowing how hard her Mom had been working trying to put everything together.

"Well, we now have enough evidence to bring the case back to the judge, and today I had a meeting with the judge and your father and his lawyer."

Sofie nodded, indicating to her mother to continue. She listened carefully to what her mother was telling her.

She had not seen her father in over six months. Her mother had asked her if she understood why she couldn't see him, and Sofie had replied that she wanted to keep her safe.

"Your father has made some bad decisions in his life and I think he has realized that his back is up against the wall when it comes to formal charges being laid on him."

"What do you mean?"

"In our meeting today, in light of the new case and evidence, your father has asked if a permanent agreement could be worked out so that both sides would be happy."

"What did he suggest?" Sofie asked, confused at Carlos' change of heart.

"He said he was planning to transfer to a new job in Chicago and wanted to make amends. He said that if we don't push for a trial, he would leave for Chicago within a month and sever all ties with the both of us," Elena said, watching her daughter's face closely for a reaction. "He wants to see you one last time and after that you'll never see him again until you turn eighteen and decide for yourself if you want him in your life."

Sofie stared at her mother, trying to process the information.

"So I won't have a Dad anymore?"

"Yes and no, mamita. Carlos will always be your father, but in the true sense of the word—then, no. He won't be a part of your life anymore. That's why I am telling you all of this. What happens in the next few days and weeks will have a big impact on the rest of your life, and I want to know how you feel about this," Elena said, reaching over to take Sofie's hand in her own. "What you think and feel is very important to me, Sofie, as I am not going to make a decision like this without your input."

"Can I think about it?" Sofie asked. "Can I give you an answer in a few days?"

"Yes. Take a few days to think it over. I'll tell my lawyer that we'll let her know as soon as a decision is made."

"OK."

Elena stood up from the bed and quietly left Sofie's room. She turned back to look at her daughter from the hallway—she was staring out her window with a serious expression on her face.

* * *

_I wasn't expecting Mom to tell me what she did. For some reason I had always assumed that the situation with my Dad would always hang over us and be something that we had to deal with. Finding out that there was a possible end to the circumstances was a development I never expected._

_It took me two days to think over what Mom said. If I agreed with Dad's proposal, that meant I would never see him again (until I was an adult, at least). Deep down in my heart I still loved my Dad a lot—no matter what he did, he would always be my father. But, I also realized the tremendous hurt, worry and danger he had caused for my Mom and I, and I knew that my Mom would be relieved and happy if the situation with my father was no longer something she had to worry about._

_In the end, I told my Mom that I was ok with Dad's plan. Even though she was trying to hide her reaction to my words, I could see a look of relief wash over her face._

_Two days later, I saw my father for the last time…_

* * *

Sofie held her mother's hand tightly as they exited the elevator together. She recognized the lady waiting for them as Ms. Jackson, her mother's lawyer and followed her towards a meeting room.

"I'll wait right here for you mamita…take as much time as you need, there's no rush," Elena said, giving her daughter a reassuring hug.

"OK."

Ms. Jackson held open the door for her as she tentatively walked inside.

The room was a simple meeting room with a table in the center surrounded by chairs. Carlos was already sitting at the table waiting with a small wrapped package in front of him.

When he saw her enter the room, he stood up immediately. Ms. Jackson sat down in a chair in the far corner of the room.

"Hola Sofia, it's been a long time," Carlos said, smiling as he took in his daughter. "You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you."

"I'm happy to see you," Sofie said as she slowly approached her father.

Through the eyes of Sofie, Carlos looked very different. He had gained some weight and his hair had grown out longer and he was also sporting a beard. He looked like a totally different man, but she could still recognize him simply by looking at his eyes.

"I wished this meeting was under better circumstances, sweet pea," Carlos said with a quiet voice, pulling out the chair next to him for her to sit in.

"Me too," Sofie said, sitting down. "Are you mad at me for agreeing to see you like this?"

"No, I'm not. I understand why you and your mother decided this was for the best, I don't blame you at all," Carlos said solemnly as he took a hold of Sofie's hand.

"I wished there was a way we could all be happy though," Sofie said, already starting to feel overwhelmed about the severity of this meeting.

"Don't worry about me Sofie, just know that I'll be happy knowing that you are happy. And, besides, if it weren't for some of the things I've done, things might have turned out very differently," Carlos said with much remorse.

"I forgive you Dad, I know you only did those things because you love me."

"Thank you Sofie, you don't understand how much hearing that means to me…"

"When are you going to Chicago?"

"I'm leaving next week."

"Oh."

Sofie looked at her father's face intently. She wanted to remember his face, she didn't want to ever forget it.

"Promise me that you'll take good care of yourself and work hard in school, ok?" Carlos said. "You're such a smart girl and I hope to hear in the future that you've become a very successful person."

"I promise," Sofie said, nodding her head.

They sat together for a few more minutes, talking quietly about various things. In the back of her mind, Sofie didn't want the meeting to end.

"I think we better wrap up," Carlos said, wiping the corner of his eye. He grabbed the package that was sitting in front of him and handed it to his daughter. "This is for you Sofie. Open it when you get home, it's just something I wanted you to have to remember me by."

"I won't forget you Dad, there's no way. Please don't forget about me," Sofie said with a small sob, tears slowly starting to roll down her face. "I love you."

"I love you too Sofie, forever. Remember that," Carlos said as he hugged Sofie tightly and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

Sofie hugged her father back fiercely and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Bye Dad," she said, pulling back and quickly turning to leave the room before she started to cry some more.

Sofie ran into her mother's arms and sobbed quietly in her embrace. Elena gently soothed her as best as she could, and held her tightly as she began to calm down.

"Are you ok mamita?" Elena asked quietly when Sofie pulled back.

"Yeah, I'm just a little sad," Sofie replied, using the back of her hand to wipe some of her tears away.

"It's ok…" Elena said, placing a kiss on her temple and holding her tight.

They were interrupted when Elena's lawyer appeared in front of them.

"Ms. Delgado, would you like to speak to Mr. Aguilar? He's still inside and he's asked if he could speak to you before you leave…"

"That's fine Jenny. Could you sit here with Sofie while I go inside?"

She nodded in response and took a seat next to Sofie. Elena stood up and turned towards the meeting room.

Elena took a deep breath to compose herself before entering the meeting room. Even though she had seen Carlos a week earlier during their meeting with the judge, she was still surprised at how different he looked.

"Carlos," she said curtly, making her presence known to him.

"Elena," he said, standing up from his seat. "Thanks for seeing me—I wasn't sure if you would want to."

"Sofie isn't the only one seeing you for the last time today," she said quietly, sitting down in a chair across the table from Carlos.

"Well, I appreciate it. I know I'm the last person in the world you want to see, but I wanted to say a few things before I left…to clear the air a bit," Carlos said solemnly.

"I'm listening," Elena said, leaning back in her chair. She was enjoying having a regular conversation with Carlos and it reminded her back to the times when they got along better.

"First, I want you to know that I am not holding it against you for what has happened and I don't blame you," he started.

"Carlos, it isn't my fault that you—" Elena began.

"Elena, please let me finish," Carlos cut in. "I've thought about a lot of things the last few months when it comes to the things I've done. If I could go back in time and change things, I would, and maybe things would have turned out differently between the two of us. Not just when I took Sofie, but even a few years back when we were still together. I should have done a better job in taking care of you and Sofie, and shouldn't have let things get in between us like it did. I should have fought for us more, and that's one of my biggest regrets—that I didn't fight for my family," Carlos said.

He sighed and met Elena's gaze squarely.

"I know you will take care of Sofie and do what's best for her, I don't doubt that. But, I also wanted to say that I want you to be happy too. I know Danny has become a big part of your life now, and I'm happy for you. He's a great guy and he'll treat you right."

"Thank you Carlos. I wish you the same in Chicago."

Carlos smiled. "I'm glad we're parting ways on good terms."

Elena returned the smile and stood up.

"Take care of yourself Carlos."

* * *

_That was the last time I saw my Dad. I miss him sometimes, but I know what happened was the best…and who knows, maybe in the future I'll see him again._

Sofie paused, looking over what she just wrote. She wasn't sure if it made any sense, but thought it was a good start. She'd have to go back and fix some things.

She looked up when she heard the familiar jangles of Tiago's dog collar and watched as he stuck his nose in the crack of her door and nudge his way into the room. He proceeded to walk towards Sofie and placed his head in her lap, wanting some attention.

"You bored T-dog?" Sofie asked, ruffling his big floppy ears and placing a kiss on his head. Tiago responded with a grunt and looked up at her with sad eyes.

"Lets go downstairs, maybe Mom has a treat for you in the kitchen?" she suggested. She laughed as she watched his entire body perk up at the word 'treat' and followed her pet down to the kitchen.

Elena was working at the kitchen table, catching up on the end-of-month bills when Sofie and Tiago entered the kitchen.

"What are the two of you up to?" she asked, looking up.

"Not much, I think Tiago's bored and I told him that maybe you had a treat for him?" Sofie offered, looking between her mother and dog.

Elena smiled when Tiago walked over to her and nudged her knee with his nose.

"You think you can get whatever you want by nudging someone with your nose, huh?" Elena said, grinning at Tiago's favorite antic.

"He does that a lot, doesn't he?" Sofie said as she checked up on a sleeping Tony in his bassinet.

"That's actually how your father and I picked him from his litter…"

* * *

"_Are you really sure that Sofie is ready for dog?" Elena asked as they drove across the New Jersey-Pennsylvania state line._

"_She's been bugging us for so long, and I think giving a puppy to her will not only make a great birthday present, but it'll show to her that we trust her and that she is now a responsible young lady," Danny replied, looking at Elena from behind his sunglasses._

"_But are you sure getting her a Bernese Mountain Dog is the right choice? They get awfully big…" Elena said, looking at the packet of information she had in her lap of the breed and the kennel they were driving to._

"_Trust me, they're the perfect match for our family. They do get a little big, but we have more than enough room for one…" Danny said, excited himself about the prospects of a new family member._

"_Sounds like you speak from experience," Elena said, completely trusting Danny's judgment._

"_They're great dogs Elena, you'll see."_

_They drove another forty miles before they entered the city of Coatesville and made their way to the Kennel they'd been in contact with for the last few weeks. _

_With Sofie's tenth birthday party the next day after Church, Danny and Elena were making the two-and-a-half hour drive to pick up their new puppy. They had found a reputable kennel not too far that still had available puppies from their most recent litter. _

_They had left after the weekly Delgado lunch and Nana Isabel was watching both Sofie and Antonio as their parents had some "important errands to run". The plan was to pick up the puppy and drop it off at Rafi's apartment for the night. He would bring the pup to Sofie's birthday party tomorrow, where the birthday girl would be completely surprised._

_When they finally pulled into the driveway of the kennel, they were warmly greeted by a woman named Carol. She was absolutely ecstatic of the prospect of one of her puppies joining the Delgado Taylor family and had fallen totally in love with the "story" of the family and their background._

_She led them around the house to the backyard where several dogs were running around and a group of three puppies playing inside a fenced pen. _

_Carol explained to them that their latest litter consisted of three males and two females. She pointed out the mother and father of the puppies and brought them over to the pen._

"_These are the three pups we have left. Two girls and a boy. I'll let them out of the pen so you can meet each one of them and when you have decided which one you would like, just let me know and I can get the paperwork completed," Carol explained, as she lifted the latch on the gate. The three puppies quickly darted out of the cage and began sniffing at their feet, most probably wondering who these new people were._

"_They're so cute Danny!" Elena said, crouching down to pet the puppies who were now happily licking their hands._

_Danny laughed as one of the puppies jumped into his lap and started licking his chin._

"_How are we going to pick?" Elena said, looking at all three puppies that looked almost identical to each other._

_They continued to interact with the puppies, quickly noticing the different personalities. One of the girls was full of energy and excitement, darting between Elena and Danny constantly with her tail wagging in full force. Her younger sister was just as exuberant, and was quite the barker—constantly yelping and making noises. Their brother, however, was more quiet and shy. He would watch intently their interactions with his sisters before following their lead._

_Elena was watching the little guy the most, totally falling in love with his reactions and responses to his sisters. As Danny played fetch with the two girls, the little guy walked slowly over to Elena and looked at her curiously. After a few moments of quiet staring, he inched closer to Elena and nudged his nose in between Elena's knee and her hand resting on top._

"_What are you doing little guy?" Elena asked, reaching down to tickle the bottom of his chin. He happily barked in response and climbed into her lap, happily snuggling into the space between her legs and looking up at her contently. _

"_You're quite the charmer, huh?" she said as she smoothed his soft coat._

_He gave her a lop-sided grin and simply replied by licking her outstretched hand._

_Elena knew right then and there which puppy had won her heart._

* * *

Tiago had only been in the family the last few months and already he had worked his way fully into everyone's hearts.

"Why don't you grab T one of those new bones we got for him today? It's up on the side shelf in the pantry," Elena suggested.

Tiago cheerfully followed his sister to the pantry and came back with his bone. He sat down in his doggy cushion and worked on his bone.

"What's for dinner?" Sofie asked, pouring herself a glass of water.

"I'm making _ropa vieja _tonight. I promised your dad I would make it a few days ago and I picked up some nice flank steak at the market today. We're also going to finish the _pastelillos_ your grandmother gave us at lunch today."

"Sounds yummy," Sofie commented, now knowing what was simmering on the stovetop. "Did Nana teach you how to cook so well?"

Elena smiled at the question. While she would never consider herself the next Martha Stewart or Julia Child (check that, the next _Latina_ Martha Steward or Julia Child), she was pretty adept in the kitchen. Growing up in a large family as the only daughter essentially guaranteed that she spent many hours in the kitchen helping her mother prepare the family meals.

"Nana Isabel taught me a lot growing up—especially all those Puerto Rican dishes you love so much."

"But how about the other stuff? Did Nana teach you that, too?" Sofie asked, sitting down next to her mother at the table.

"Not really—lets just say I'm really good at following recipes and adapting and changing them to make them my own!" Elena said with a smile, remembering all the times she had experimented with new recipes.

"Are all those cards in your recipe box all your own?"

"Some are, some aren't … it's just a mix of different recipes I've tried and liked."

"Then why does Daddy always want you to make that Thai noodle dish?? He's always pulling that card out of the box!"

"That's because the first time I made that dish for your dad…it was a complete mess!"

* * *

_Elena checked the time on the stove and realized she was running behind. Danny was due to arrive any minute now and dinner was far from ready._

_She sighed as she dropped a dish cloth onto the counter. This wasn't like her to mess up making dinner so badly, but for some reason the entire day was a series of comical errors._

_To begin, Sofie was making her first overnight trip away from home that weekend. Elena's niece Natalia was turning eight and to celebrate her brother Eddie was taking his family and several of Nat's friends to Six Flags Darien Lake in upstate New York. Sofie was invited along and Elena had dropped off her daughter at her brother's house that morning. She was crossing the bridge back into New York City when she got a frantic call from her sister-in-law saying that Sofie's overnight bag was missing. It only took her a few seconds to locate the wayward bag in the backseat, and she had to make the trip back to her brother's. _

_By the time she arrived back at her apartment, she had to leave to run a few errands and pick up groceries for the dinner she was making that night._

_When the news of Sofie's weekend trip was confirmed, she had immediately called Danny to make plans for that same weekend. She wanted to spend some quality time with her man, especially since things had been tense between them with everything surrounding Sofie's kidnapping. It had been almost two months since it happened, and while things were slowly starting to fall back into place between them, she still felt there was something missing. _

_This was their weekend to bridge that gap._

_Now, she was standing in her kitchen trying to get dinner ready. This would be the first time she would have Danny over for a "proper" home cooked dinner (without Sofie and the menu consisting of "grown up" foods) and had invited him to pick out what he wanted to eat from her recipe box._

_Danny found her recipe box amusing. Whenever he had a spare moment in her apartment (which usually meant when he was waiting for Elena) he would always flip through the cards. He would always poke fun of how meticulous Elena was in using a certain type of card to write out new recipes and the way she filed them away (under tabs that said 'ok', 'good', 'great', 'excellent' and 'yummy'). Elena took all his ribbing in jest, knowing he was just teasing her._

_She had asked Danny to pick out a card from the box for this evening, and for some reason he picked out a recipe she hadn't tried in years—Pad Thai. She had no idea why Danny would pick Pad Thai, being that she never pictured him as a Thai-food type of guy, but she had promised to make whatever he picked._

_She had gone to the local Asian market to pick out the necessary ingredients and felt more than prepared to tackle the dish. But, somewhere between softening the rice noodles, chopping the bean sprouts and making the sauce she had forgotten something (or maybe did something extra?) and the dish did not look like Pad Thai. _

_She heard a soft knock on her door and made her way to let Danny in. He greeted her with a big smile and thrusted a single potted daisy into her hands._

"_For the kind hostess," Danny said._

"_Thanks," Elena replied, leaning up to give him a quick kiss before placing the flower on a side table._

"_Something smells really good."_

"_You still have to tell me why you picked Pad Thai…I didn't know you liked Thai food!" Elena asked, diverting his attention away from the food._

"_I like Thai food! I've always had—you just don't know. In fact, I spent a couple of months in Thailand before I joined the FBI. I loved it there and backpacked through the entire country and met some of the most warm and hospitable people ever," Danny said, sitting down on a bar stool and smiling at the good memories. _

"_How come you've never told me about this?"_

"_I don't know…it never has come up, I guess. But I definitely want to go back in the future—maybe take you and Sofie too?" Danny suggested._

_Elena smiled. She liked thinking about the future, especially if Danny was in it._

* * *

"Your father took one look at the noodles I prepared that night and went into the kitchen to show me how to properly make Pad Thai. He said some little old lady taught him while he was in Thailand…"

"So the recipe in the box is Dad's?"

"It is. I watched him making the noodles and wrote out all the steps and added them into my box…so, I guess that's why your Dad likes me to make it all the time—cause he taught me how!"

"Do you think Daddy will really take us to Thailand for a visit? That sounds like fun, and I've never been to a place so far away…" Sofie asked, looking at her mother expectantly.

"You'll have to ask your father, but maybe in a few years…once Antonio gets a bit bigger we'll plan a fun vacation…" Elena said with a smile.

"What is this I hear about a vacation? Are you guys planning something behind my back?" Danny asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Dad! You're home! Mom was just telling me about how you've been to Thailand…and how you wanted to take us to visit!" Sofie exclaimed, jumping up to greet her father. "I haven't been before, and I really want to go!"

"I promise to take you once Tony is old enough. And, don't forget about our trip planned for Puerto Rico this Christmas…" Danny said, reminding his daughter of their long overdue trip to PR to visit Elena's extended family and homeland.

"Oh right, I forgot about that. Christmas is a really long time away, though…" Sofie said with a small pout. "And then after that it'll be an even longer time to wait for Tony to be old enough to go to Thailand!"

Danny smiled at Sofie's lack of patience.

"In the meantime, I think you should learn some Thai phrases so that when we go, you'll be able to communicate with the people you meet…"

Sofie's ears perked up at that suggestion. She had a fondness of learning different languages and could say 'hello' in quite a few languages.

"Do you know how to say 'hello' in Thai?"

"The word for both 'hello' and 'good bye' in Thai is _sawadee_," Danny explained.

"Sort of like how 'aloha' means both in Hawaiian?"

"You got it."

"_Sawadee_," Sofie said, as if getting familiar with the word. "You'll teach me more before we go?"

"Of course," Danny said with a smile.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6: Intermission

**Chapter Six: Intermission**

After helping her parents clear the table from dinner, Sofie was now sitting in front of her computer, trying to finish her assignment. She had a few more hours this evening before bedtime and wanted to get it done so that she had the entire Sunday free.

_After the situation with my Dad was resolved, things returned back to normal. I could tell Mom was happier than ever—she was enjoying her work with the FBI, was growing closer and closer with Danny and was even spending more time with me._

_For Spring Break that year Mom surprised me with the news that she was going to take me to Disney World for a week long trip. I've always wanted to go since I could remember—I wanted to meet all the characters and ride the rides! But, I knew money was tight and Mom was very busy with work that it would be difficult for it to happen. _

_I was shocked when Mom woke me up bright and early the first day of Spring Break in April with the news that we were going to the airport to catch a flight to Orlando. She told me that she had been planning this surprise for over a month and thought it would be a perfect opportunity to spend quality mother-daughter time._

* * *

"Are you enjoying our vacation so far?" Elena asked Sofie as they rode the monorail back to their resort hotel.

They had spent the last four days basking in everything Disney. They've ridden on countless rides, taken photos with characters, had lunch at Cinderella's castle, gone on a safari at Animal Kingdom and spent countless hours enjoying the amazing pool located at the Polynesian Resort they were staying at. It was Thursday and they only had a few more days of fun before returning home on Sunday.

"Yes! I still can't believe we're here…this has been the best vacation ever!" Sofie replied excitedly, bouncing in her seat as she flipped through her Disney autograph book filled with signatures from various characters.

Elena smiled. Watching how excited and happy Sofie was during this trip made her wished she had done this earlier with her. In fact, come to think of it, this was truly their first vacation together and it didn't happen until Sofie was nine! She made a mental note to herself that she would take more time to spend with Sofie in the future—she was growing up way too fast for her liking.

As Sofie chirped excitedly next to her with comments from her various meetings with the Disney characters, Elena glanced around at the people around her riding in the same monorail car. Most were entire families of various generations and some young couples enjoying their time together. She sighed slightly at the thought. She was missing Danny terribly.

This was the first time they've spent a prolonged period of time apart in over a year and she couldn't believe that she was actually missing him so much. She prided herself as a strong, independent woman that didn't need a man in her life to be happy—but she was quickly realizing what an important part Danny was playing in her life now.

She had considered inviting Danny on this trip with the two of them, but decided not to as she wanted to spend some quality time with her daughter. A girls only week. Plus, it wasn't likely that Jack was going to allow two of his best agents take off on a vacation at the same time.

She was deep in her thoughts when she noticed Sofie calling her name. She was already standing by the door, waiting for the monorail to stop. Elena quickly gathered her things and grabbed Sofie hand's as they got off and walked towards their hotel.

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Elena asked, looking at her watch and noticing it was about time to eat again.

"Can we go back to Downtown Disney? I saw a huge pineapple the other night we were there and I want to eat there!" Sofie suggested, recalling their trip over to that part of the park to visit the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for a makeover.

"You want Cuban food?" Elena asked, recalling seeing the same pineapple.

"Yeah! And I can tell Danny when he calls tonight that we ate Cuban food!" Sofie said excitedly.

Elena smiled at her daughter's exuberance. Danny had been calling them each evening to find the latest update on their vacation. She would let Sofie speak to Danny first as she went through her nightly beauty rituals, quietly amused at the bits of conversations she heard from Sofie's end. She would tell Danny in great details every single thing they did that day and promised they were taking tons of photos to show him once they got back.

"Then, Cuban food it is! Lets quickly change and get ready, alright?"

"Sure, mami," Sofie said, giving her mother a big grin. If only her mother knew about the plan she was cooking up!

As they waited for an elevator to arrive, Elena felt her phone vibrating in her purse and quickly took it out. She smiled when she recognized the number.

"What's up Taylor?"

"Not much Delgado. Just thinking about what I'm going to have for dinner tonight…my fridge is empty."

"Poor baby. I'll make you something extra special when we get back, ok?"

"Sounds perfect. I'm missing you like crazy, in case you didn't know."

"Me too," Elena said as she followed Sofie into the elevator. "How was work? Jack on your case again?"

"Actually, we wrapped up our big case this morning and he gave me the afternoon off. Who would have thought, huh?"

"I bet you he just didn't want to see your mopey face around the office!"

"I don't know what you're talking about Delgado!" Danny said with a laugh.

Getting off the elevator, she dug in her purse for her card key. She passed it to Sofie who ran ahead of her down the hallway towards their room.

"How's Sofie doing? Did she have fun at Epcot today?"

"She did! We went on Test Track twice—I think we got ourselves a little speed demon when she gets old enough to drive!"

"I'm not looking forward to that day," Danny said with a laugh.

"Yeah, we had a great time. Too bad you aren't here—I think you would have enjoyed the Nemo show more than Sofie!" Elena said, poking at Danny's fondness for a certain Disney cartoon.

"Hey, don't diss the fish!"

"I know, I know…" Elena said, as she walked into her hotel room. "We're actually making a quick pit stop at our hotel and heading back out to dinner in a bit."

"Oh yeah? Where does Sofie want to eat tonight?"

"You'd be proud—she wants to try the Cuban restaurant in Downtown Disney."

"Smart girl. I heard that one is pretty good."

"I'll let you know. I can call you later tonight at the usual time?" Elena offered, as she dropped the bags in her hands onto the bed.

"Sounds perfect—who knows, maybe we'll speak before then?"

Elena was a bit puzzled by his cryptic message, but didn't think otherwise.

"Bye Danny—go eat something!"

"I will, take care Elena…love you."

She dropped her phone back into her purse and went to the closet to find something more appropriate for dinner to wear.

"What did Danny want?" Sofie asked, coming out of the bathroom changed into a nice summer dress.

"He was just checking in—he's pretty excited that we're having Cuban food tonight, so you'll have to make sure you tell him exactly what you think, ok?"

"I'm sure Danny will get to try some, too!" Sofie said with a grin as a puzzled look came over her mother's face. "I mean, I'm sure Danny's had lots of Cuban food before…"

Sofie offered her mother another smile before grabbing her hair brush and started to work on a ponytail.

Fifteen minutes later they were on their way to Downtown Disney, enjoying the warm weather and beautiful views. They soon saw the giant pineapple in sight and quickly entered the restaurant—Bongo's Cuban Café—and approached the awaiting maître d'.

"Table for two?" Elena said, after the smiling lady welcomed them. Sofie was looking around at all the pictures on the wall.

"Reservation for Delgado?" the lady asked, looking down at her list.

"That's not us, we don't have a reservation."

The lady smiled again at her reply. "I understand. Please, right this way…" she said, grabbing a few menus from her station and leading them towards the covered patio area.

They rounded the corner to the busy patio and Elena immediately spotted a familiar face sitting at an open table on the far side that they were heading towards. She broke out into a huge grin.

"Surprise, mami," Sofie said with a giggle when she saw Danny herself.

Danny stood up as they approached, a big grin mirroring on his face.

Elena picked up her pace, crossing the final few yards and threw her arms around Danny's neck in a big hug. She was so happy to see him there.

"I told you we'd speak soon," Danny said, pulling back from the hug and placing a warm kiss on her temple. He stuck his hand out for Sofie who quickly gave him a big hand slap. "Great job Sofie, you are a master surprise planner!"

Sofie giggled and sat down in her seat as she watched Danny pull out her mother's chair before sitting down himself. Immediately Elena pushed her chair closer to Danny's and reached for his hand.

"I can't believe you're here! What's going on? How did you do this?" Elena asked, looking at Danny and then at Sofie. "Please don't tell me you have to head back to New York tonight…"

"Sofie told me the other day on the phone that she thought you weren't having as good of a time as she was," Danny began to explain.

"I told Danny that we would both have more fun if he was here with us!" Sofie said. "I mean, not that I'm not having a great time with just you mami, but Danny said he'd take me on the Tower of Terror and all the other scarier rides you won't go on!" Sofie explained.

"Exactly. So, I asked Jack if I could take a few days off, and he basically said that if we wrapped up our active case before the end of the week, he would let me have the rest of the week off…this morning, our case wrapped and Sofie and I came up with our little plan…"

"How was that possible? When did you speak with Sofie today?" Elena asked, amused at all the trouble they went through to surprise her.

"Danny told me to use your phone and call him when I was alone this morning. I called him while you were taking your shower and he told me he was going to be able to meet us tonight. It was my idea to meet here!" Sofie explained.

"I hope it's okay that I'm crashing your girls-only week," Danny said sincerely. "I know you were looking to spend time alone with Sofie…"

"No, it's fine. She obviously wants you here, and I echo the same sentiments," Elena replied, giving his hand a squeeze. "This is a perfect surprise. Are you staying with us for the rest of our vacation?"

"If you'll have me! I booked the same flight home on Sunday."

"Perfect! We can go on all the rides tomorrow, then!" Sofie said excitedly as she grabbed the kid's menu from the centre of the table. "And, if you don't have a hotel room yet, you can just stay with us. Our room has two beds and you can have mines—I can share with mami," Sofie rambled on, looking down at the menu.

Danny and Elena exchanged smiles. "We have ourselves a chaperone," she whispered into his ear. "We'll have to find a way to spend some time alone…" she finished, giving him a knowing look.

"What do you think I should have Danny?" Sofie asked, breaking up their moment and turning the kids menu around.

Danny gave Elena a quick kiss before turning his full attention back to Sofie.

* * *

_The last few days of our Disney vacation was the best – Danny took me on all the rides he promised and we had tons of fun. I think Mom enjoyed the last few days, too, and we were all sad when we boarded the plane back home. Mom promised me that we'll go on another trip together soon._

Sofie looked up when she heard a knock on her door. She glanced over and saw her mother with her brother.

"Would it be okay if I leave Antonio here with you? He's not ready for sleep quite yet and I want to take a shower."

"Where's Dad?"

"He went out for a run and took Tiago with him. They should be back in twenty minutes or so…"

"Sure, I can watch Tony for a bit."

"Thanks Sofie," Elena said. She walked over to Sofie's bed and placed her son in the middle. She took a few pillows and stuff animals to surround him. "You can keep on working—I'm sure Tony will be fine just chilling out on his own."

Elena smiled and gave Sofie a quick kiss at the top of her head before disappearing down the hall towards her room.

Sofie took a glance at her baby brother and saw that he was completely happy playing with the toys next to him. Deciding she didn't have to entertain him, she turned back to her computer to continue.

_After our vacation, the next big thing that happened that year was a few months later at the beginning of June. I'm a proud Puerto Rican, and June is an important month for us. That year, Puerto Rican Day became extra special._

* * *

"You ok Danny? You look a little pale, everything alright mi amor?" Elena asked, leaning over to brush her hand against Danny's cheek as he shifted his car into park.

Danny gave a warm smile before turning his face slightly to place a kiss in the palm of her hand.

"I'm fine—just a little tired from all the festivities today…I think my ears are still ringing from the parade…"

"You mean from all the chanting and music?" Sofie piped up from the back seat. "That's the best part of the parade!!"

"I'm sure our vocal chords will thank us tomorrow," Danny said with a grin, taking his keys out of the ignition.

"Yo soy Boricua, pa'que tu lo sepas!!" Sofie shouted loudly happily. "Yo so Boricua, pa'que tu—"

"Sofia Maria! Our ears!" Elena said, turning her head back to give her daughter a stern glare. "Just wait a few minutes and you can go crazy chanting as much as you like with your cousins in the backyard, comprende?"

"Sorry, I'm still pumped up from the parade!"

Danny chuckled as he got out of the car and held open the back seat door for Sofie. She quickly jumped out of the car and dashed down the sidewalk and up the driveway towards her Tio Ernesto's house.

"She's like this every year," Elena said, shaking her head as she slid her arm into the empty crook of Danny's arm.

"It's good though, some of my best childhood memories revolved around holidays," Danny said with a smile.

Today was Puerto Rican Day and Danny was experiencing the annual June celebration in a whole new light. The Delgado Family took National Puerto Rican Day very seriously and Danny was quickly learning the importance of the day for Elena and Sofie.

He had arrived at Elena's apartment bright and early that morning and was greeted by a bouncing Sofie. She was completely decked out in red, white and blue and had a small Puerto Rican and American flag sticking out from her ponytail. She preceded to hand Danny a large Puerto Rican flag and began explaining what he had to do during the parade.

Danny knew about the Puerto Rican Day Parade—any New Yorker you would have to be living under a rock to not notice it. For Danny, however, the Puerto Rican Day Parade usually just meant being stuck in crazy traffic and seeing the Puerto Rican flag all over the place. This year was going to be different.

The trio then met up with a big group of Elena's family and together they all found their "usual" viewing spot on Fifth Avenue for the parade. With the kids sitting anxiously on the curb for the parade to begin, the adults sat on folding chairs behind them, passing around snacks and essentially having a good time in each other's company.

Danny sat in a folding chair next to Elena, his right hand being held tightly by Elena and resting comfortably in her lap. She was leaning her head on his shoulder and listening to the conversations around them. He had to admit that he felt completely happy at this moment—he was surrounded by people he truly loved. And that felt amazing.

He heard the faint sounds of blaring music get closer and closer and soon he was up on his feet with everyone else watching the parade pass their spot. He shouted the words of the popular chants and clapped and danced along with the music. Elena looked simply vibrant and beautiful next to him and a small flutter of nervousness passed in the pit of his stomach as to what he was planning to do that evening…

"You coming or not Taylor?" Elena asked, snapping Danny out of his thoughts. "Don't let the music and noise scare you away," she continued, waving her hand behind her towards her brother's house.

"If music and noise easily scared me, I wouldn't survive any of your family's functions!" Danny said with a grin, catching up to Elena and taking her outstretched hand.

They walked up the driveway packed with cars towards the front door. Danny held open the screen door for Elena as they stepped into the house and took a quick look around.

In the living room to the left, a group of Elena's nephews and second cousins were camped out in front of the big screen TV that was hooked up to an Xbox. There were also two tables set up where the older generations of Elena's family was playing dominos. The family room to the right had been converted to a big play pen, where the younger members of the family were playing with various toys under the watchful eye of two of Elena's great-aunts. They waved when they noticed the two of them at the door and told them everyone else was in the kitchen and out back.

He wasn't surprised that the heart of the party was in the kitchen and out back. Elena had explained to him that every year during Puerto Rican Day, her family held a huge cookout/party. This year it was at her brother's Ernie's home, and from what he could gather, it was going to be bigger than any other year's party. Elena said it wouldn't be surprising if over seventy people showed up as everyone in Elena's family was invited as well as family friends.

Danny followed Elena down the hall towards the kitchen, already hearing the usual chattering in a mix of Spanish and English. The kitchen was equivalent to Grand Central Station. There were tons of people moving about, standing around and catching up with one another. Isabel was in the middle of the kitchen directing the chaos. She sent one of her grandkids with a huge platter of burger patties outside towards the grill and asked one of her nephews to make a run for more ice. Even with the tremendous commotion around her, Isabel spotted Danny and Elena right away.

"Elenita! Danny! You guys are here!" Isabel said with a big smile, wiping her hands on a towel and making her way towards them.

Elena met her mother and gave her a quick hug and kiss. "Sorry we're late, traffic was horrible."

"Every year it is!" Isabel said with a smile before turning to Danny and giving him a hug and kiss. "I'm glad you're here this year Danny, you're part of this family now, you know," she said, giving Danny a special look.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Danny replied, leaning down to give Elena's mother a hug.

"Elena, could you do me a favor?" Isabel asked, turning to her daughter.

"Si, of course."

"Your Tia Johanna is running late and she's in charge of the _asopao_…can you start it until she gets here?"

"Not a problem mami," Elena said with a smile. "I'll catch you later—I'm needed in the kitchen!" Elena said to Danny with a grin.

Isabel watched her only daughter busy herself in the kitchen, easily recruiting two of her sisters-in-law to help.

"You nervous?" Isabel asked Danny, turning to him.

"A little, but I'm ready," Danny said with a smile.

"You're going to be the talk of the entire family, you know?" Isabel said with a smirk. "Everyone is going to remember this year's Puerto Rican Day because of what you're going to do. I'm very proud and happy for you," Isabel finished.

Danny smiled.

Leave it to Elena's mother to help him combat his nervousness. He had spoken quietly with Isabel in private during their Saturday lunch. Since Elena's father was no longer around, he felt it would be appropriate to talk to Elena's mother about what he was planning to do the next day. The second she heard his words, she gasped and her eyes began to glaze over. She whole heartedly supported his plans.

"Gracias Isabel, it's going to be a special night," Danny replied.

Both of their eyes followed Elena as she moved around in the kitchen—she had no idea what was in store for her that night.

"She's a very lucky girl to have found you Danny," Isabel said. "My Elenita hasn't had the best of luck when it comes to her heart, and I know she's been waiting for the right man to ask her that important question. I am so happy that it is you Danny."

Danny let her words sink in and he couldn't help but disagree. He was the lucky one to have Elena in his life—she was everything he wanted in a woman and he felt truly blessed to have her and Sofie in his life.

Isabel gave Danny one last reassuring smile before leaving him to return to her position as chaos organizer.

"Danny! Come outside, I found our table!" Sofie shouted from the backyard, waving him over.

Danny made his way to the backyard and was greeted with a chorus of shouts from various family members.

Ernie's backyard had been completely transformed for the occasion. Puerto Rican and American flags were hanging from the fences and strings of colorful lights were blinking above them. The deck was home to what appeared to be four grills that were currently being manned by Elena's brothers and cousin. Also on the deck were three large banquet tables that were slowly being filled up with various foods. As people arrived, they placed what they brought on the table.

Down the few steps from the deck was the grassy part of the backyard that had been transformed to a giant eating area. On one side of the backyard a small raised platform was set up where one of Elena's cousins had set up his DJ-ing equipment and blasting out music. Two rows of picnic benches were lined up on the other side of the backyard with several smaller tables set up in between the stage and benches.

Danny walked over to Sofie who was standing next to one of the smaller tables. The table was smacked dab in the middle of the backyard and had a perfect view of the stage. A sign that said _Reserved for Elena_ was sitting on the table top.

"We have our table reserved this year!" Sofie said, showing Danny the card. "That's never happened before," Sofie finished with a shrug.

Danny smiled, fully recognizing Isabel's handwriting on the card and the reason why the best table was reserved for them.

"I'll watch our table—go and play, I think the food will be ready soon," Danny said, watching as Sofie quickly turned to rejoin her cousins dancing near the stage.

Soon, the party was in full swing as food began streaming out of the kitchen and the grills. The amount of food on the tables was astonishing—ranging from must-have Puerto Rican dishes, American bbq standards to worldly dishes like chow mien and lumpias.

Danny was working on what had to be his second full plate when Elena finally joined him at their table.

"I think this year has surpassed all other years of the Delgado Family Puerto Rican Day Party!" Elena said with a laugh, placing her plate on the table. "I think Ernie will have leftovers until Independence Day…"

Danny quickly swallowed the potato salad he was working on.

"Do you know every person here?" Danny asked, glancing around at the full tables/benches and the people standing about eating. He lost count the number of new people who had introduced themselves to him (for some reason they all knew who he was) and was fully grasping what the definition of "family and friends" meant for Elena.

"Pretty much…" Elena replied, taking a big bite from her hot dog, "…umm…you cannot imagine how hungry I am…" she said, taking another bite, "…but, yeah, everyone here is either family or friends—the faces you don't know are the ones I see every year during this party…" Elena continued, grabbing Danny's napkin to wipe the corner of her mouth. "Some don't even live in New York and make the trip just for this weekend—it's a pretty big deal for us."

Danny smiled as he watched Elena continue to inhale her plate of food. He found it quite endearing that she was not at all self conscious about the way she was eating.

"You're enjoying yourself, right? Don't tell me Eddie has been giving you a hard time about what happened last week…" Elena mumbled, forking some of the pasta salad into her mouth.

"I'm having a great time, and no, your brother has been on his best behavior tonight," Danny replied, looking over to where Elena's eldest brother was sitting with his family. They had a little disagreement the week before about who should be hitting in the clean up position for the Mets.

"Good. Just let me know if he's acting up, I can kick his ass for you…"

Danny couldn't help but laugh at that remark. Leave it to Elena to fight his battles for him!

"You know, I overheard Pilar saying that Ernie's been practicing to defend his talent contest title…"

"Poor Pilar, I mean, Ernie can sing ok, but I can't imagine having to hear him 24-7…" Elena said, referring to her sister in law.

They continued to eat and talk, frequently being interrupted by various people wanting to talk to them. The evening started to slow down a bit, with everyone finished eating and the leftover food packed away.

Everyone had gathered in the backyard as the night began to wind down. The kids were huddled around the small bonfire making s'mores, while the adults sat under the blinking lights talking amongst themselves. Soon, their attention was turned towards the stage as Isabel got up to address everyone.

"Yo so Boricua!" she shouted happily.

"Pa'que tu lo sepas!!" everyone shouted in response while clapping.

"I wanted to thank you all for coming and making this the best Puerto Rican Day party to date! My family and I are honored that you wanted to celebrate this special day with us," Isabel said, looking at all the happy faces around her.

"As I get older each year I have become more and more thankful of my wonderful family and friends, so please, enjoy the rest of the evening!" Isabel said finishing up.

She gracefully left the stage for her seat as Eddie took the stage to announce that it was the moment they've all been waiting for: talent contest!

Every year, willing family members and friends would take turns entertaining the rest of the party. Elena explained that it had become a big family tradition with people singing, telling jokes, playing instruments or whatever else they could come up with. Pretty much anything was allowed and the winner was always decided by the audience based on how entertaining they were (they even got to keep a trophy for the entire year).

"This year, we have some contest veterans and rookies, so without further adieu, lets start!" Eddie said, as everyone cheered in response. He grabbed a sheet of paper with all the names that had signed up and announced that his youngest son Hector was up first.

Four year old Hector got up on the stage with a big grin on his face. He proudly took a quick bow before announcing loudly that he had recently learnt how to juggle and wanted to show everyone. His sister Sara handed him three small bean bags and everyone cheered as he began to throw them up in the air and precariously caught them. Danny whopped and encouraged the little boy as his "juggling" routine resembled more of a "catch and throw upwards" routine, but nonetheless he was cheered on loudly and given a big round of applause when he was done.

One after another, various people got up on the stage to take their turn. Each contestant was warmly received and it became apparent to Danny that the contest wasn't so much of a competition but rather just another way for the family to have fun. He watched as Ernie got up to sing a romantic Spanish ballad (Danny was happily surprised at how good it sounded!) and felt awfully proud after Sofie finished a dance routine with her cousins Natalia and Isabela.

Elena watched the entire contest with a huge smile on her face. She remembered how she used to take part each year by doing a dance number with her cousins—but had announced her "retirement" from performing once she passed the baton to her daughter. She loved this part of the day the most, and was especially happy that Danny was with her. She was providing running commentary and remarks to him on all the performers and he looked genuinely interested in what was going on.

Finally, Eddie stood up on the stage one last time.

"And, we've now reached our last entry for the evening," he began, as a chorus of boos reigned in from the audience. "I know, I know…you want the show to keep going, but, I promise you that we've saved the best contestant for the very end," he continued as everyone began to cheer.

"I wonder who it is. All the regulars have already gone," Elena whispered as she rested her chin on Danny's shoulder, draping one of her arms around him for comfort.

Danny smiled to himself…she had no clue as to what was about to happen.

"Now, our last contestant might need a little introduction as he's a rookie to all of this—but lets not hold that against him! I first met him about a year ago when my baby sister brought him to one of Mami's Saturday lunches, and I guess ever since then he's been part of the family…so, please give a warm welcome to Special Agent Danny Taylor!" Eddie said, with exaggeration in the last four words for some added pizzazz.

Elena gasped a bit when she heard the announcement and turned to Danny as he stood up from his seat.

"I didn't know you entered yourself for the contest!" she said, a bit surprised. "What's your talent?" she asked, blushing when everyone around them laughed at that remark.

"You're about to find out," Danny said with a wink before walking up onto the stage and giving Eddie a hug.

All eyes were on him as everyone watched, expectantly.

"Well, after that introduction I don't know if I can go through with what I have planned…" he said with a laugh, looking around at all the faces.

Elena sat at her middle table, watching Danny intently, still not believing that he was up on the stage about to perform something. Danny was by no means an introvert, but she was definitely surprised that he had kept his plans a secret from her.

Danny looked around at all the faces staring at him, expectantly. Elena was giving Danny her undivided attention, still a bit amused that he had volunteered to take part in the Talent Show without telling her.

"So, I bet you're wondering what I'm going to do—what my hidden talent is. Rest assured, it's going to be memorable and something you'll never see again," Danny said into the microphone. "But, in order to accomplish it, I need some help from an assistant…any volunteers?" Danny asked.

Sofie shot her hand up into the air, waving it around to get Danny's attention. Danny laughed when he saw her eagerness. "Oh, and my assistant has to be taller than my shoulders." Sofie dropped her hand with a pout and looked around the backyard to see who else was volunteering.

Elena took a quick glance around, too, and noticed that there weren't any takers. She looked back at Danny and watched as he shifted uncomfortably on the stage.

"I'll be your assistant, Danny," Elena said, standing up. She didn't want Danny to have a poor showing in his first Delgado Family Talent Show.

"Perfect!" Danny said with gusto. "Everyone, please welcome my assistant Ms. Elena Delgado on stage!"

Everyone clapped as Danny took Elena's hand and helped her onto the stage. He led Elena to the middle of the stage where he had set up a single chair facing the crowd.

Elena sat down on the chair, crossed her legs and looked up at Danny who was now standing to her side.

"What I am about to do will astound you," Danny began, turning to his audience. He grabbed a blindfold from his back pocket and held it in front of him. "I am now going to ask my beautiful assistant to tie this to cover her eyes. She, therefore, won't be able to see me and what I am about to do."

Danny turned back to Elena and handed her the blindfold. Elena took it from him, with a puzzled look on her face. "What are you doing?" she whispered to Danny.

"You'll see. I just need you to sit with your eyes covered for a few minutes and then I'll tell you what you have to do, ok?" he said, putting down the microphone and helping Elena tie the knot.

"This better be good, Taylor," Elena mumbled, settling herself back into the chair and wondering what exactly Danny was going to do.

Without the microphone, Danny turned to his audience with a big grin. "Now, please watch what I am about to do and it'll become obvious that Elena cannot see anything…"

Everyone sat quietly and watched—not knowing what was going on. It was only Isabel, sitting in the chair that Elena had vacated from her table who knew what was about to happen. She clasped her hands in front of her chest and tried to contain her emotions.

Danny stood on the stage and from the inside pocket of his jacket he took out a small box. Quiet murmurs could be heard as family and friends began to realize what was about to happen. Sofie turned to Nana Isabel, her eyes wide. Knowing exactly what she wanted to ask, Isabel nodded and grabbed her hand. Sofie beamed, as she anxiously watched Danny, who was now composing himself.

Elena sat awkwardly on the stage, trying to figure out what Danny was doing. She could hear him moving about and a sudden increase of buzz from the audience. She felt Danny stand in front of her.

"You can take the blindfold off," Danny said quietly as he went down on one knee in front of Elena. He held the small box in front of him and waited as she took of the blindfold.

Everyone watched anxiously as Elena took the blindfold off and pushed the strands of hair that had fallen over her face to the side. Her eyes took a moment to readjust and the only thing she saw was Danny.

She gasped when she realized he was kneeling in front of her, a small box in his hands.

"What's going on Danny?" Elena asked quietly, searching his eyes trying to process if this was part of his act or for real.

"This is me doing something I've never done before…something I've been thinking about doing for months now and…" Danny paused, trying to get his thoughts together.

He flipped open the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. Elena gasped when she saw it, bringing her right hand to her mouth. The ring was perfect—everything she could have imagined if she had picked it out herself. It was happening, she realized. Danny was actually proposing to her, this wasn't an act.

"Elena…" he began, his eyes locking to hers as they became the only two people in the world. She took his free hand in hers and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"Elena, you mean the world to me. I don't think I could tell you or express to you how much you mean to me, and how much I love you," he whispered, his voice catching a bit. "Every day when I wake up and see you, I feel whole. You're a part of me Elena, and I've never felt this way before. The first time I laid eyes on you, under those different circumstances, I knew that was something special about you…and I never thought in a million years that we'd end up here together like this, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and we each have our own destinies to fulfill in life. I fully believe that whatever is planned for me, that you're part of it…" Danny continued, as he reached up to wipe the tears that were streaming down Elena's face.

"Don't cry Elena," he said, "You're so beautiful…I think I'm the luckiest gun in the world. To be in love with such a caring, warm and compassionate person. I'd do anything for you and Sofie, you're my family now. I promise you, with everyone here as witness, that I'll love Sofie as if she was my own daughter, that I'll never let anything bad happen to you, that I'll always respect and cherish you and most importantly I promise I'll be the best husband to you and make our shared dream of a family a reality …"

He stopped when he realized he was starting to ramble, and Elena let out a small laugh at his flustered face. Danny had spent days going over what he wanted to say to Elena at this moment, but every intelligible line he had come up with had slipped from his memory.

Refocusing his attention, Danny reached down with slightly trembling fingers and slowly took the ring out and placed the box aside. He reached out, took Elena's left hand and paused.

"Elena Milagros Delgado Rodriguez, will you marry me?" he asked, his eyes shining with love and hope.

Elena couldn't believe he even had to ask—she knew the answer already without a doubt.

"So what do you say? Think you can put up with me for another fifty years or so?" Danny kidded nervously, as laughs broke out from their captivated audience.

Elena reached down and placed her hand on his cheek as he instinctively leaned against her soft palm. She leant down, touching her forehead with his and placed a kiss on the tip of his nose.

"Do you even have to ask?" she whispered, as tears continued to fall.

"Is that a yes?" he asked, still waiting for that magic word.

"Yes! Yes, a thousands times over!" she said, leaning down to kiss him.

Danny broke from the kiss with the biggest grin and gently slid the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit.

A sudden burst of clapping and shouts of love soon enveloped them as they were reminded of where they were. Danny let out his own shout of happiness, standing up and bringing Elena to her feet as well. He picked wrapped his arms around her tightly and gave her a fierce hug before turning to acknowledge their audience.

Sofie rushed up onto the stage and threw herself into Danny's awaiting arms. He easily scooped her up and placed her in between himself and Elena.

"We're going to be a family!" she shrieked happily, burying her face into Danny's shoulder.

"We are, mamita, we are," Elena said, her heart full with joy seeing her daughter so attached to Danny.

They were soon swarmed with family and friends offering their congratulations and love, happiness radiating. It wasn't until several hours later after they said their final good byes that they had a moment to themselves again.

"She's out like a light," Danny said, buckling a sleeping Sofie into the backseat of the car and shutting the door. He smiled when he noticed the gleaming trophy that was also in the backseat—apparently Danny was the unanimous winner of this year's Talent Show.

Elena smiled, leaning against the car from the curb. She was admiring the glistening ring on her hand, still not believing they were actually engaged now.

"You like the ring, right?" Danny asked, coming around to stand in front of her and placing his hands on either side of Elena, trapping her up against the car.

"It's perfect Danny. Everything was perfect tonight."

"Now you know why I was acting like a nervous wreck all day today," Danny said softly, leaning down and placing a soft kiss against her lips.

"That took some guts to propose in front of everyone like that, Taylor," Elena said with a smile, trailing her lips towards that spot behind his ear she knew was sensitive.

"I know family means a lot to you Elena, and I couldn't think of a better way to propose than with all the people you love present," he replied.

Hearing those words made her heart swell even further—if possible. "I love you, Danny," she said simply.

"And, I love you, forever."

As she leant up to capture his lips with hers again, Elena couldn't help but think that her life was finally on the right tracks and that she now had everything she could ever ask for…

* * *

_Mom and Danny were finally engaged! I was so happy for them and I couldn't wait until the wedding so that we would officially become a family. They decided to not have a long engagement period and thought a September wedding a few months later would be perfect. _

_There was a ton of things to do before then, but with everyone helping, I knew it was going to be the perfect wedding. Little did we know that something was about to happen over the summer that would jeopardize everything for us._

Sofie finished her sentence and quickly saved her file. She could hear Tony whimpering behind her and turned to see what he was fussing about. Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, she picked up her little brother and slowly rocked him back and forth, calming him down.

"What's wrong Tony? Why are you crying?" Sofie asked. She did a quick diaper test and it didn't need to be changed. She continued rocking him back and forth as his cries began to subside. She continued to pace back and forth and soon Tony was falling asleep. Quietly she made her way to Tony's nursery and gently placed him in his crib. She covered him with his blanket and left the nursery, leaving the door half open.

She stuck her head through the open door of her parents' room and saw her mother walk out of the adjoining bathroom, towel drying her hair.

"Tony's sleeping in his crib—he was a bit cranky and he fell asleep as I was rocking him," Sofie said.

"Thanks mamita, you do have a special touch when it comes to your brother," Elena said. "I'll go check on him once I'm done here—thanks for your help."

"No problem."

"Are you still working on your assignment?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to finish it tonight."

"Ok, let me know if you want me to look it over when you're done, ok?"

Sofie nodded and headed back to her room and sat down again in front of her computer. She stared at the computer screen and she knew what she was about to write was going to be quite difficult. It had to be included, unfortunately, as it was an important point of her life.

_There was a ton of things to do before then, but with everyone helping, I knew it was going to be the perfect wedding. Little did we know that something was about to happen over the summer that would jeopardize everything for us._

She took a deep breath and collected her thoughts.

* * *

**TBC**


End file.
